Breath of Fire 2: The Rise of St Eva
by Ewol Navi
Summary: Following the events of Breath of Fire 2. Set nearly a hundred years later, the descendants of those embroiled in the original struggle with St. Eva, enter a new conflict with the demons and the awakening of a new dark god. Please R&R.
1. Chapter 1

**BREATH OF FIRE 2**

**THE RISE OF ST. EVA**

**Prologue**

The winds howled overhead, as the blizzard raged over the arctic drifts. As the sun began to set, a small sledge cruised across the ice, drawn by twin horned beasts. The sledge came to a halt as it reached the drifts, and the rider disembarked. He was a tall lupine hunter, lean yet muscular. His features were swathed with furs and his face hidden by a mask with amber lenses to protect him from the buffeting cold. He cracked the ice at his feet with the head of his spear and drank from the water beneath, mere moments before it froze over once more. After giving the sledge beasts a pat on their backs he ventured into the drifts. Though he strode casually, every sense was alert, and his ears twitched, listening beyond the scream of the wind. But his senses discovered nothing, all living beings had wisely taken refuge from the coming cold of the night, during which little could survive.

He turned to leave, when his nose picked up a scent. He stopped and lifted his mask, to take a better whiff. Human? Not quite, but whatever it was, it was close. He re-secured his mask and climbed over the drift to his left, following the scent. He reached the top and surveyed the surroundings, and then he saw it. It was small figure, wrapped in dark clothes, wading weakly through the snow. Then it collapsed. In alarm, he rushed down the drift, giving a loud howl over the cry of the snowy zephyrs. The sledge beasts churned powder as they hurried to follow their master's call. He bounded over the snow, reaching the fallen figure in a matter of minutes. Kneeling next to it, he turned it over and removed the wraps from its face. It was a woman, a human women, perhaps one of the most beautiful he had ever seen. He looked around, wondering how she had gotten so far in the Nifilheim Wastes. But there was no time for that, she had obviously passed out from the cold, if he did not act quickly, she would freeze to death. The sledge beasts reached him, in a spray of ice, snorting snow from their nostrils. As he moved to lift her, she suddenly came to and gripped him.

"Help me!" she cried frantically, "Please help me!"

"I will," he replied, "But who are ye?"

But it was too late, moments after she had spoken, she lost consciousness once more. He lifted her from the snow and carried her to the sledge, laying her on the floor, and rolling a fur over her. He mounted the sledge, raised his whip and cracked over the beast's head.

"Yah!" he cried.

The beasts took off, heading back southwards away from the drifts and out onto the ice.

Lights flickered in the distance, as the sledge sped across the ice. The hunter reached into his pack and pulled out a horn. Lifting his mask, he placed it to his lips and blew three long blasts on it. Soon the lights began to come into focus as the sledge rapidly approached. The hunter's call was answered by three higher notes, echoing from the lights ahead. As the lights grew nearer, they began to reveal that which their luminescence heralded. A great ship, carved from giant bones, rose from the ice as it cut across the frozen ocean. Three mighty masts rose into the air, their sails billowing out from the yard arms. Lanterns swung in the wind from nearly every available spot, and one large fire burned on the fore deck, its light focused by a mirrored disk. The sledge flew towards the ship, as the hunter raised the horn again and gave another three longs blasts, this time followed by a short trill. This call would signify to those on board that he would need a medic ready once he reached the ship. Two large doors opened on the side of the ship and a gangplank descended to the ice, as the ship dropped anchor and ground to a halt. The hunter looked back to the girl, color had begun to return to her face, but she was not yet far enough away from death's door. The beasts thundered up the gangplank, the sledge rattling behind them and finally sliding into the docking bay. The gangplank was retracted and the doors rumbled closed behind them. The hunter leapt from the sledge, coming face to face with an old hunched lupine woman, accompanied by two young maidens.

"You seem unharmed Yelgan," she said to him in a half barking language, "Why have I been summoned to the sledge dock?"

"Good evening Myla," Yelgan said removing his mask and responding in the same tongue, "I found something out on the ice," he returned to the sledge and lifted the girl out of it, "She is in need of your services."

"She is indeed," Myla said after placing a paw to the girl's cheek, "Give her to my girls, and we will see what we can do."

"Please bring her back, good healer," Yelgan said, as the two girls lifted her from his arms, "She made a request of me, and I would like to be able to help her."

"She is not so far gone that she is beyond my grasp," Myla said, "But time is already against us. I will bring her back Yelgan, and inform you once I am sure of her condition."

The two bowed to each other, and Myla hobbled off to the higher decks. Yelgan turned back to his sledge to unhitch his beasts as two dock boys took the sledge away to clean it. The ship grumbled as the anchors were weighed and it continued on its path across the ice.

The girl woke with a start. Where was she? After a few moments her vision cleared, and she took in her surroundings. The room was dimly lit by a single oil lamp, but her eyes soon became accustomed to the darkness. She was sitting up, in a bed of some sort of cotton, bound by skins to form a mattress and fur blankets lay over her. There was a small table on the right side of the bed, and the left side was against a wall. She ran her fingers over the wall, it wasn't wood, it was too smooth. Suddenly, the world shifted, and she slid against the wall with a yelp. For a moment gravity centered to the left, before everything shifted back to the right, and a low creaking groan moved across the floor. She moved to stand up out of the bed, and slid the furs off. A chill crept across her skin, as she realized she was unclothed. Pulling one of the blankets around her, she cast about the room for her belongings, struggling to stay upright from the tremors that continued to assault the chamber. Her clothes and the coat she had worn were folded neatly in the seat of a chair. She dropped the fur and pulled them on. Her own clothes consisted of a deep purple leotard with a short blue skirt, a blue vest, a pair of knee high boots and a pair of matching gloves. After dressing, she examined her coat and heavy trousers, only to find that someone had cut them nearly to ribbons. Perplexed she dropped them back onto the chair and pulled the fur blanket around her shoulders again for warmth. Her satchel lay in a corner, along with her bow, quiver of arrows and three small throwing knives. She moved for them, and at that moment the door opened. She dashed to the corner, picked up all three knives and waited for whatever might walk through the door. Voices conversed for a moment outside, and then a figure stepped in, carrying a lamp of its own. Her eyes adjusted to the light and then she saw him. He was a lupine, tall, ruggedly handsome, and appeared to be of a husky breed. A quiver filled with javelins was strapped across his back, and he wore heavy grey furs over his body. He was followed by a short, hunched lupine woman, wrapped in a fur and skin dress. Upon seeing her, he bowed and said something in an unfamiliar tongue. He seemed friendly and so she lowered her knives.

"Who are you?" she asked. The lupine, frowned for a moment, and then replied.

"Ach, yes ah had forgotten that ye speaks in the northern tongue missy," he said, with a thick Scottish accent, "Mah name is Yelgseva Wruthhen, but ye can call meh Yelgan." He bowed and she bowed in return, "And who might ye be?"

"My name is Seiya," she replied, "Where am I?"

"Ach, ye be aboard the great ice ship Fruthven," he said proudly, "This is mah home, I found ye 'alf frozen among the drifts."

"How long was I asleep?" she asked, her tone becoming worried.

"'Bout a day and an 'alf," he replied, "Our medicine woman," he gestured to the elderly lupine who bowed slightly, "Myla tended to ye. Ye was near dead when ah found ye."

"A…a day and a half!" she said, panic taking her voice, "Oh my god! I… I have to get back!"

"Back where?" Myla inquired.

"I was…we were journeying across the ice," Seiya said, "We needed to get out… out there," she made a waving gesture with her left arm, "We stopped for the night in a cave, and we thought it was empty, only it wasn't empty, because we were attacked. Well actually we had been attacked the night before and…"

"Hold on! Slow down missy," he said soothingly, "What attacked ye?"

"A.. a big ice worm!" she replied, "We wandered into it's cave and it attacked us. There was a cave in, and my friends… and my brother were trapped behind the rocks. I got out, and went to find help," she looked up at him franticly, "We have to help them."

"How long ago was this?" Myla asked.

"About… about four days ago," she said half to herself, "I was walking for three days I think, heading due south from the cave. At least my compass said so."

"Then we ought to be able to trace her path back from where I found her," Yelgan said to Myla.

Myla nodded, "Aye, I'll tell the helmsman to bring 'er about, and dispatch a team of trackers to pick up her trail," to Seiya she said, "Don't ye worry about a thing dearie, we'll find ye're friends."

"I want to go with you!" Seiya said and she rushed to the door. She stopped and her legs wavered as she almost passed out again.

"Whoa there missy," Yelgan said half catching her, "Ye be faint with 'unger. Why don't ye come up with meh for a wee bite?"

"I'll take care of everything," Myla said at Seiya's concerned look, "'Tis the nature of the Fruthven Tribe to 'elp those in need."

"Its, it's a little cold," Seiya said wearily.

"Ach, yes ah had almost forgotten," he opened the door and Myla's attendants entered the room, carrying an elegant fur dress that split at the center below the knees, hung just below her shoulders and sported quite a low neckline, "This ought to do the trick," he said as he left the room. A moment later Seiya opened the door, and was momentarily blinded by the large lantern swinging in the hall.

"Are ye ready?" he asked.

"Yes I… oh wait, my bracelet!" she exclaimed. She rushed back into the room, and emerged a moment later holding the bracelet. It was a silver chain, attached to it was a pendent of a silver dragon coiled around a teardrop cut, green crystal, "Okay, I'm ready."

Yelgan offered his arm, which Seiya took and they started down the hall, while Myla headed in the opposite direction. After traveling upwards two decks, they came to the ship's mess, where the cook offered them two bowls of steaming meat stew. They sat at one of the galley tables, where they each took a spoonful of stew before Yelgan struck up a conversation.

"So missy, it seems ye've got something of a story behind yer arrival," he said, "Per'aps ye might be willin' to share the tale?" Seiya stirred her stew for a moment, and then held up her arm with the bracelet.

"Well you did save my life, and even if you don't believe me, everything I'm about to tell you is true," she took a bite of her stew as she watched the jewel. Slowly, the crystal changed color from green to orange, she smiled, "Looks like your friendly enough."

"Hmm?" he queried.

"The crystal it can do many things, one of which is reveal the intentions and emotions of those around me," she took another bite, "Funny thing is, my whole story almost revolves around this crystal."

"Sounds like this will be quite a tale," Yelgan said.

"It is, but I'm not sure where to begin," she said, lowering her arm.

"'Ow 'bout the beginin'?" he said.

"Well… alright, it all began with a dragon…"

**Ch. 1**

It all began with a dragon. Well, perhaps I should tell you a little more about myself. I come from a small village on a continent north east of here. The town is called Wyrtane, where I was born and raised. It was the day before our town's annual festival to celebrate the day our town was founded. We call it the Wyvern Festival. I was sitting in my desk at school, looking out the window and daydreaming as usual.

"Seiya," someone whispered, "Seiya!"

A finger poked me in the ribs and I snapped back to reality, "Huh?" I turned to find my big brother glaring at me.

"Pay attention," he hissed.

"Why? She's just telling us the same story she tells us every year," I whispered back.

"Do you care nothing for your grades?" he asked.

"I do Kai, I'm just not a nerd like you," he replied sticking my tongue out at him.

"Miss Fibashi," Messa, our teacher, called my name from the front of the classroom, "Since you seem to not need to listen, perhaps you would like to come up and give the lesson?"

After a moment of deliberation I smiled, "Thank you Mrs. Messa, I'd like to," Despite the whispered protests and threats from my brother I stood from my desk and walked to the front of the classroom, oozing defiance. Messa was nearly dumbstruck, she hadn't actually expected me to agree. But she recovered quickly and surrendered the lesson to me. I stood at the front, struck a pose that imitated Messa's usual stance and began.

"Well kids, tomorrow is the Wyvern Festival," I began, imitating Messa's voice, much to the class' amusement, "And I think we should all know why we celebrate this day. Long ago, there was a great demon named Deathevn, who threatened to swallow the world in his darkness. He started off small, but began to grow because of the power that his minions were sending to him. No one knew of the terrible offerings that the demons made to their lord and no one could stop them. Then a group of brave warriors lead by a member of the Dragon Clan named Ryu journied across the world, defeating Deathevn's demon overlords. After a titanic battle with Deathevn's mightiest warlord, where Ryu saved his sister Patty, Ryu and his warriors journied down into the underworld, where they faced Deathevn and struck him down. But as the story goes, Deathevn did not die, but instead fell asleep. And so when Ryu and his friends left the underworld, Ryu transformed into a great dragon and fell asleep over the seal, to guard the way to the underworld forever. After this, Patty married a dragon clansman and together they founded our town of Wyrtane where we the dragon clan now live to protect the world should the demons ever rise again. The Wyvern Festival is so that we may never forget the Dragon Clan's responsibility to this world. Now does anybody have any questions?"

The class went wild, hoots and hollers of laughter rang through the room, while Mrs. Messa cried for silence. With a smugly sweet smirk, I waltzed back to my desk.

"You have a real problem you know that," I knew this to be the beginning of one of my brother's lectures. He was right on time, right in the middle of our walk home through a nearby orchard.

"Look, before you go off about how I didn't need to do that, I'm going to tell you right now that I did," I quipped, "We can't all be a goody two-shoes like you Kai."

"This isn't about being a boy… or in your case, a girl-scout Seiya," Kai said, "This is about the fact that you can't back down when you think people are challenging you. You don't have to fight everyone Seiya."

"Why not?" I asked, "I can't help it if people don't like me?"

"It's not that people don't like you Seiya," His tone softened from it's previous aggravation, "It's just that… that?"

"That what Kai?" I asked, as I snatched an apple from a tree.

"Nothing, forget it," he said with a sigh. We walked along in silence for awhile and I looked up to the sky. The sun was peeking through the clouds through which patches of sky could be seen. And then I saw it. A great black figure appeared from behind the clouds, halfway spanning a strip of naked sky. It was far bigger than any bird, and it had a long tail as well as an elongated neck. Two great wings beat the sky and it possessed and arrow shaped head.

"A… a dragon?" I said and I dropped my apple in surprise.

"What?" Kai asked.

"A dragon," I cried pointing, "Look, look!" and just as he turned his face skywards, it disappeared behind the clouds once more.

"What!?" he said in disbelief, "Seiya, your seventeen, your little stories won't fool anyone anymore."

"It was there Kai!" I shrieked, "It was a dragon, it was too big to be anything else!"

"Seiya, nobody's seen a dragon in over a hundred years," Kai said, "Even we Dragon Clansmen lost the dragon powers long ago."

"I'm not lying, Kai!" I stomped my foot indignantly, "It was there!"

"I'm sorry Seiya," he said, "But can you expect me to believe something that's not there?"

"No," I sighed, "I guess you can't… but it was there." He didn't answer, and we walked in silence all the way home. Once we reached the door of our house I grabbed Kai's arm, "You know we don't have to tell mom and dad about what happened at school today," I said.

"They'll find out sooner or later," Kai said, "If it was me, I'd want to be the one to tell them first, and steal Messa's thunder when she tries to make more trouble for you."

"Aha! So you admit that she tries to make trouble!" I said triumphantly.

"Seiya," he shook his head and opened the door.

"Ah good your home," my father was the first to greet us, "Kai, I'll need your help with the fire wood so your mother can finish dinner."

"Yes father," Kai said as he dropped his book bag by the hat rack.

"Seiya," my mom called from the kitchen, "Could you run down to the tailors and pick up my order, he said it would be ready today but I'm completely swamped."

"Yes mother!" I called as I too dropped my bags and headed back out the door.

Dinner and our chores passed quickly that evening, and I soon found myself in my room finishing up my homework. As I closed my books I rushed to the closet and pulled out my costume for the Wyvern Festival. I pulled out a long purple kimono. It was hemmed with red, and a long green dragon curled coiled around the entire robe, starting at the feet and ending with it's head squarely in the center of the back. It had long, white water sleeves, inside which I had sewn several pockets so I could carry more things without adding a bag that might take away some of the beauty of my costume. I laid it out on my bed and added a few last touches to the design and then ran to my closet again. Out of the corner of the closet I pulled a small wallet which contained five sharp throwing knives. I pulled my costume on, and placed each knife in a different pocket inside the sleeves, within easy reach. Turning to the wall, I assumed a fighting stance and then let instinct run it's course. I had made the sleeves well, as I plucked the blades from the pockets, and flung them outwards, the sleeves followed my movements perfectly and the knives never touched them as they flew through the air. With lighting speed four blades embedded into the wall. The fifth however cut straight through the wood and I heard it thunk into the hard wood of my brother's bed. A minute later, Kai opened the door to my room holding the knife.

"Not bad, but a little less wrist," he said.

"Thanks," I took the knife from him sheepishly.

"How did you throw that with the sleeves," he asked.

"None of your business," I said, tossing the blade onto my bed, "What are you dressing as?"

"A dragon knight," he said, "Like the clansmen of old, Carter, the blacksmith's son and I are going as the same thing so he's been making our armor while I supply the appropriate markings and decorations."

"Ah, interesting," I said, while wondering what a dragon knight might look like.

"What are you supposed to be," he asked.

"It's an original design," I said standing up and twirling.

"Don't you think the neckline is a little low," Kai said with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm just trying to turn a few heads, dear brother," I quipped sticking my tongue out at him.

"Dad will never approve," he shook his head as he left the room, "G'nite."

"Good-night, big brother!" I called with a laugh.

Wyvern Festivals are always wonderful. Everything is decorated; paper dragons hang from every doorway and flagpole, while dragon kites dance across the sky. People from far and near come to the Festival, for it is truly a sight to behold. However, this year, the festival was spectacular! Everyone had gone all out with costumes, decorations and event planning. As my family and I walked through the square we saw all kinds of people that had just arrived in town. There was a group of monkey people belonging to the race called the Highlanders from the far eastern city of Highfort. A pair of performers danced in the square, they were two cat women from the Woren race. Three tall dog men strode impressively through the square, bedecked with much finery, Kai told me they were from the Grassrunner tribe. We walked to the large sign post in the middle of the square where the list for the tournaments had been posted. I was signed up for archery, marksmanship and hand-to-hand combat. As I studied the list I noticed that Kai's name showed up on every single sword fighting tournament, and rightly so. Kai was an incredible swordsman, and had nearly mastered at least one style of fighting with just about any kind of sword. I had always preferred projectile weapons myself, but I took after my mother, who had also signed up for archery and marksmanship. After saying farewell to my family I headed for the ring where the archery competition was being held. On my way I passed two very large men, an armadillo man and a man who looked like a bull. I knew the bull to be a Guntzian and the armadillo was called a Hardshell, but it was rare that these races where seen this far west.

I entered the preparation tent near the ring and found the stall with my equipment. Unfortunately I hadn't been allowed to bring my own bow and arrows, since many times contestants had used hybrid arrows or special bows to improve their chances of winning. I pulled off my costume and put on the white judo uniform that was provided me. I strapped the quiver to my back, picked up my bow, and marched out to the field.

Five rounds later, I was still in the tournament. Archery would be postponed for the next two hours so the contestants could go and compete in their other competitions. I had some time before my next even so I ran over to the fencing ring, where my brother was squaring off against Yakuta, one of the few men in the village with skills to challenge my brother's. I arrived just in time to hear the first ring of crossed steel. This was the final round of the fencing competitions, and was the most spectacular. Behind each contestant was a rack of swords in varying size, shape, and style. Either contestant could change swords and anytime, but a wrong choice would be the end of the competition. At the moment they were using sabers. Kai parried Yakuta's blow and lunged forwards, as Yakuta blocked, and swung with his free arm. Kai caught the fist in his ribs and hit the ground, rolling to avoid Yakuta's blade. Kai rolled to his feet, just in time to block and parry Yakuta's next assault. Sparks began to fly as the blades moved faster. With a quick twist, my brother deflected one of Yakuta's attacks. His blade flashed downwards, and pinned the edge of Yakuta's pant leg to the ground. Back flipping away, Kai ran back to the rack and pulled a one handed katana. Drawing it from it's sheath and rushed Yakuta. Yakuta wrenched the saber free from the ground and stood ready to face Kai's attack with both swords. Katana met saber, and Kai blocked the second saber with the sheath. They whirled and danced round each other, each utilizing their two fisted assault on each other. The crowd gasped, as many times it seemed that one might fall, but then quickly recovered. Yakuta stabbed forwards with both swords, which Kai blocked, raised the katana and brought it down in both blades, breaking them. Yakuta flung both hilts in Kai's face and turned and ran back to his rack, pulling a broad sword. The larger sword swung over head as Kai ducked and dodged. While Yakuta was slower with the big blade, Kai couldn't afford to block, for fear of breaking his own weapon. As Kai ducked, Yakuta kicked him in the chest, knocking him over on his back. Yakuta raised the sword and brought it down, despite the cries of warning from the judges. Kai thrust the katana and sheath up to block, and both sword and scabbard shattered under the blow. Kai rolled aside and dropped the broken blade.

"You could have killed me!" he shouted.

"Too bad Kai, you're not going to beat me this year again!" Yakuta snarled and charged.

Kai ran back to his rack, and drew a light long sword, his best weapon. While it was a light thin blade, it had a much longer reach than any of the other swords, and allowed Kai to utilize his speed to its fullest. Kai dashed in, dodging Yakuta's blows, and lashing out with his own blade. Yakuta could barely block in time, and soon Kai had him on the defensive. Yakuta finally realized he could not win now, and dropped the broad sword. He ran back to his rack and drew a short sword and shield, his own best weapons. The fight was really on now. Knowing Kai, he would not kill Yakuta, but he would seek to wound him, and possibly cripple him if he had to. It was clear however that Yakuta intended to kill. The referees tweeted their whistles, but neither warrior showed any signs of stopping. The whirl and clash of steel resounded through the now silent fighting ring, the crowd seemed to be holding their breaths, sure that someone would die here. As I watched Yakuta's tactics, I finally spotted his weakness. He tired himself out with the broadsword and so while, he was pressing his attack on Kai, didn't have the energy to do any real damage. In fact, he was mostly deflecting Kai's attacks in an effort to give himself time to catch his breath. Kai must have noticed this just as I did, because he suddenly went on a vicious offensive. The long sword had a much greater reach than Yakuta's weapons, but Yakuta could still block and then strike. Kai closed the distance between them, getting close… tempting Yakuta to use his sword. The clashed and held their blades pressed against each other.

"Yakuta," Kai said through clenched teeth, "This is your choice, to the death?"

"To the death!" Yakuta spat. A savage smile crossed Kai's face, as he brought his knee into Yakuta's chest. Yakuta doubled over, and Kai lashed his blade across Yakuta's sword arm. Yakuta dropped his sword with a cry, as he began swinging his shield at Kai. With a savage roundhouse, Kai knocked Yakuta to the ground, leapt on top of him and raised his sword. For a tense moment, all held their breath, as the sword point wavered above Yakuta's neck. Kai held his position for a moment, and then, nicked him lightly across the chest, drawing a thin line of blood.

"Touché," he said triumphantly, dropped his sword and walked away. Yakuta lay on the ground seething. I smiled and was about to cheer when I saw Yakuta reaching for something in his boot. It was a knife! I stood, notched an arrow to my bow, and let fly, just as Yakuta raised the blade to throw. The arrow neatly pierced his palm, and blood spurted from his hand. Yakuta hit the ground with a scream, holding his hand. Kai looked at Yakuta, then up and me and smiled.

That evening, the awards ceremony was held. I lost in hand-to-hand, but took silver in marksmanship and gold in archery. My mother beat me to the gold at marksmanship, and Kai took gold for two of his fencing competitions, and silver in the other three. I stood on my platform, proudly holding my medals and waved to my dad. A strange feeling came over me, a tingling at the back of my neck, the same feeling I got when something bad was about to happened. And it happened. An unearthly shriek broke the revered silence of the ceremonies. All turned, looking for the source, moments before chaos broke loose. A dragon, big and black with a long white mane flew backwards overhead, before smashing into the tents in the center of the town square. Shortly afterwards, he was followed by two horned, winged beasts. The dragon snarled and lashed out with his tail, wrapping it around the neck of the first beast, while raising his claws to grapple with the second. But these beasts were not alone. The town suddenly came alive, as strange monsters came rushing into our village. They were hideous, deformed and smelt of death. Had we been any normal town, all would have panicked, but we were no ordinary village. As dragon clansmen we were all well trained in the arts of battle, and taking up the weapons that had been used in the competitions that day, we fought back. I slung a quiver over my shoulder, and picked up a bow. What were these things, perhaps Palan, the elder would know. I notched an arrow to the bow and took a monster down through the eye. Climbing a tree, I saw that the dragon had slain the two larger beasts and was flying back south of the village. Finally I caught sight of Palan, my father was defending him. I leapt from my perch and dashed across the square, releasing arrows into the swarm as I went. After what seemed like forever I finally reached them.

"Elder Palan," I panted, "What is this?"

The elder looked at me, his eyes filled with despair, "They are demons," he said, "The seal has been broken."

"What seal?" I asked, as I fired off another shaft.

"The seal that our town protects," my father said, he swung his spear over head, knocking back another monster, "It is in a shrine to the south. Something must have broken it, and these demons have been released."

"How do we seal it?" Kai had run up behind me as he asked the question.

"It can only be sealed by the blood of a dragon clansmen, for the seal is tied to our very existence," Palan said, "It is not broken, or else we would all surely be dead, but even a crack in the seal would be all the demons need to escape the underworld. Go to the seal, and offer blood upon it, and it will be renewed."

"Come on Seiya," Kai grabbed me arm and started running, "Mom!" he shouted. My mother was on a rooftop, dealing death from above with her arrows, "South gate!" Kai cried to her. My mother acknowledged his signal.

"What are we going to do Kai," I asked, ducking to avoid a claw swipe.

"Re-seal the seal of course!" he said, "It needs dragon blood right? We just cut ourselves and bleed on it."

"Kai, that dragon," I said, "It was the same dragon I saw the other day!" As we reached the gate, Kai said nothing, contemplating what I had just said. My mother ran up to us.

"What are you up to now?" she asked slightly breathless.

"We're going to re-seal the seal," Kai said, "Dad's busy, but we need help."

"No," she said flatly, "It's far too dangerous; send one of the warriors to take care of that!"

"Mom!" I stomped my foot, "We don't have time for this. That seal is leaking demons by the minute. The warriors are doing their job, defending the town, but if the seal isn't closed, we'll be quickly over run and overwhelmed. Now will you help us or not!?!" I surprised myself; I had never spoken to mother this way. I more than expected her to slap me in the mouth, but instead she simply nodded.

"Yes… yes I will help you," she said, drawing an arrow and notching it to her bow, "We must be swift." With that said, the three of us ran out the gate and into the woods. Dashing over the green, and ducking to avoid branches, we ran, avoiding the demons that were swarming through the woods towards the town. At points we were forced to stop and fight, but we eventually made it. The shrine was built on a treeless hill that rose above the leaves of the forest. It was little more than four pillars and a thatched roof set upon a stone dais. But the pillars were gone, smashed to bits, and all that remained was the dais. Upon it, was the dragon. His claws flashed and his wings beat the air, as he tried to hold back the hordes emerging from the seal. Two more great demons leapt forth and drove him back, allowing their comrades to escape.

"We have to help him!" I cried.

"Leave that to me," my mother said, "You two, close the seal, you have a plan I presume," we both nodded, "Good, then Godspeed, and may Shen-liu be with you!" We ran up hill towards the seal, as my mother began firing arrows at the great demons, drawing their attention. Kai's sword flashed before us and my shafts flew over head, clearing our path. Finally we reached the seal. Upon the floor of the dais, was inscribed a large circle and many incantations had been written inside it in an ancient tongue. A fissure of blackness cut through the center of the seal, and the cries of untold evils could be heard beneath. Kai stabbed downwards as something tried to climb out, and he kicked it back down.

"Give me your wrist!" he said. I held my arm out and he swiftly drew the blade across my wrist. A line of blood appeared almost instantly. He did the same to his wrist, "Ready?" I nodded, and at the same time, we turned our arms over. The blood fell in droplets, spattering in the stone. For a moment nothing seemed to happen, and then the blood began to move. Crawling towards the open edge of the seal, and beginning to reform the stone and repaint the letters inscribed there. The great demons that had been fighting the dragon, stopped, saw us, and rushed towards us, screaming angrily. The dragon picked itself up, and tackled them from behind. I closed my eyes, fearful that we would not seal it in time, that some new evil might emerge, or that the other demons might get us if the dragon failed to hold them off. And then, with a snap, the stone closed, and the seal reformed. The letters spouted light as the seal closed off, our blood had done its work. The demons shrieked in anguish, and turned on the dragon. The poor dragon was already tired from his battle, and though he fought back savagely they overcame him and with a swift blow to the head, knocked him unconscious. Lifting his fallen form, they spread their wings and carried him off into the sky. I shot arrows at them, but they were soon out of range.

"Mom!" Kai cried, and rushed down the hill, I lowered my eyes, to find the bleeding form of my mother, laid upon the grass of the mound. We ran to her. She was not dead, but badly wounded, a large gash across her stomach. She tried to mutter something, but we could not understand. Together we carefully lifted her, and carried her back to town. When we arrive, Wyrtane Village looked like a war zone, bodies of both our clansmen and demons were strewn everywhere, but it was clear that we had won. The survivors had been surveying the wreckage and tending to their wounded loved ones. Our father caught sight of us, and then my mother and ran to us. Kai's head was bowed, and I ran to my father, and he caught me in an embrace, and then I lost it. I burst out crying, crying for the pain and sorrow our once quite little town had suffered.

Usal, our town healer, managed to stabilize my mother's condition. The following night, the surviving members of our village met at the town hall to discuss what had happened. Our family arrived late, and when we came in, the hall was in an uproar. Blind accusations flew through the air, as the town elders called for order. My father and my brother looked at each other and nodded. Moving towards one of the back benches, they over turned it, throwing all seated upon it to the ground, lifted it over their heads and threw it down the aisle. Many ducked out of the way, and soon all were silent.

"The floor is yours elders," my father said, with a glare to the gathered townspeople.

"Thank you Kairan," Palan said standing, "People of Wyrtane, hear me!" We took our seats.

"This better be good," I whispered, to Kai, who shushed me.

"People of Wyrtane, the attack on our village is not by the doing of any we see here today," Palan continued, "Nay, none in this assembly have that power. The cracking of the seal would have to have been done by one who knew its secrets, or by one who had the strength to break through from the other side. But the seal we guard is not the only seal that bars the path to the underworld, there is another, on the far side of the world, and it too is guarded, by a great sleeping dragon."

"Was that the dragon we saw today?" someone asked.

"No," another elder said, "I think not. The Great Dragon would not abandon his post, nor could he, for his sleep is eternal, until such time as someone awakens him, or his seal is broken."

"However, if indeed someone or something forced its way through the seal, the Great Dragon will know," Palan said, "After much deliberation, it is the opinion of this council that we must send someone to awaken the Great Dragon and stop this evil before it spreads across the world." This set the hall off once more. Objections and affirmations were flung with wild abandon. My father and brother stood once again and lifted the bench they had thrown. Silence quickly settled once more.

"But who will go?" someone asked.

"We have decided," the oldest member of the council spoke up, "And our reasons are twofold. The clansmen we will send are to be Kai and Seiya, the children of Kairan." Stunned silence filled the hall, before I broke the ice.

"Whoa, whoa and whoa again!" I said standing, "You can't be serious! You want us to journey halfway across the world…"

"The other side of the world," Palan corrected me.

"The other side of the world," I continued, more than a little annoyed, "To wake up some dragon, and face untold perils, danger and possibly death! I haven't even finished school yet!"

"You are of the linage most direct to our founder Patty," the old elder replied, "Therefore the dragon is most likely to recognize you as its wakers."

"Wakers?" I asked.

"Patty feared that this day would come," Palan explained, "And set a plan into motion. Because if this, there are only certain people in this world who can wake the dragon."

"You spoke of a second reason wise elder," Kai said, standing up next to me, "What is that reason."

"The second reason is because yours is the blood that closed the seal," the old one replied, "The demons in this world will know your blood, and smell it too. They will seek you, for you now are the only ones that can open the seal."

"Why us? Why should our blood make any difference?" I crossed my arms rather defiantly.

"When the seal was created it was made so that the only thing that could open it was the life of a dragon clansman, thusly making it nigh impossible for anyone but a clansman to open it," Palan interjected, "But when you resealed it with your blood, the locking spell transferred to your lives. Just as the seal was once tied to our race's existence, the seal is now tied to your very life. If you die, so will that seal. The demons know this and will stop at nothing to find you and slay you."

"By sending you away," the old one continued, "We are protecting our village as well, for as long as you remain here, the demons will most certainly return and even more lives will be lost."

"On the move we will be harder to find," Kai said thoughtfully, "As well as moving ever closer to accomplishing our own mission."

"You are correct," the old one nodded, "But we will not force this burden upon you, you must accept this, if you will," We hesitated, looking at each other and then at our father.

"What of me father?" a voice rang from the back of the room. We turned to find that the speaker was Yakuta, "I am as strong as they. I wish to defend our world too. Why can I not go?"

"You," Palan said to his son, "Are wounded," he paused and glanced at me, and then continued before I had a chance to object, "And you do not belong to that line."

"But we are…" Yakuta began.

"We are to remain here," Palan said with finality, "And protect this village as best we can," Yakuta nodded sullenly and sat back down.

"We will accept," Kai said. I looked at him in disbelief and he returned my gaze. There was no hesitation, no apprehension. His clear grey eyes were solid and steady, and I could see that he would go, whether I would or not. But he wanted me to be with him and so he added, "For mother." I opened my mouth, and then shut it. How could I refuse now. Theses demons had done this to my mother, and even if I did not want to save the world, I would most certainly save my mother.

"Yes," I said finally with a sigh, "We accept."

That night passed quickly, almost numbly. Father spent the entire night, packing us supplies and tools we might need. We wanted to stay up and help, but he told us to put together any personal things we wanted and go to sleep, we'd need our rest. We awoke the next morning to find breakfast, a hearty fruit and oats porridge, was already on the table. We ate solemnly, realizing that this would be our last home cooked meal for a very long time. The rest of the morning passed in a blur. Carter showed up and offered us a selection of some of his father's best weapons and armor. I took two armored gloves, a few throwing knives. Kai grabbed a shirt of chain mail, light greaves, shoulder and knee armor, and a pair of armored gauntlets. We took our own weapons, not because they were better than the one's Carter brought, but because we knew ours the best. At some point we went back to the town hall, where we met the elders again and the next thing I knew, me and my brother were walking away from our home, our town and our people. We were trekking north, across the fields that separated our town from the northern woods. As we walked, I looked to the sky, running over everything the elders had said in my mind.

"_Patty's plan was genius," Palan began as we took our seats before him, "Ryu's warriors had fought long and hard beside him, and wished that the world would be forever protected. Using her magic, Patty caused their emotions for Ryu to be bound into their blood stream, and so, when they married and had children, those emotions passed into their offspring. While the children themselves will feel nothing for Ryu, these emotions can be released in the presence of the dragon, and he will awake to speak with his comrades, or so he will think."_

"_However," the old one took over, "You will have to locate these souls, and the only way to do so is with this," he held forth a small chest, "This is for you Seiya." I opened it and took out a silver, chain bracelet. Small traces of gold had been inlaid into the links, and from the chain hung a small silver dragon, coiled protectively around a teardrop shaped crystal._

"_What's this?" I asked._

"_This serves three purposes," Palan said, "This is the Dragon's Tear, it once belonged to Ryu. It has the power to reveal the emotions of those around you depending on the color of the Tear. The second power is that it can locate the ones who hold the power to wake The Great Dragon. And the third is that this was Ryu's most treasured possession, and since Patty's bloodline was blurred long ago, this Tear is all we have to try and wake Ryu."_

"_Take these," the old one handed Kai a book and a scroll of parchment. Kai unrolled the scroll, "This is a map, drawn by one in Ryu's party named Sten. During their travels they journeyed far across the entire known world, and so this map shows much of what the ancient world looked like. Of course much of this has changed in the last hundred years, but the Tear works with this map. By holding the tear over the map, it will point to the place on the map where you can find the next soul."_

"_And the book?" Kai asked._

"_The book is a journal of sorts, it was written by a woman named Nina," Palan explained, "It catalogues almost every monster or demon that existed in the ancient world. It also gives information on towns, cities, land marks, and even some of the races you may run into. Think of it as… a field guide."_

"_Now are you ready?" the old one asked, "Good, here are you instructions. You must journey north, to Spargus Woods. Once there search for the village of the Grassmen... yes they do exist. The elder of the Grassmen is named Aok, he is a long time friend of Palan, and of this village. Aok should be able to direct you to the waker that lives in the woods, after that he may give you some further advice, but as far as we know you will be on your own. But be on your guard, if the demons have returned, then monsters and many other evils may have returned with them. Good luck, and Godspeed."_

"Seiya," I snapped back to the present as my brother spoke. Looking around I realized that we had cross the field and stood at the edge of Spargus Woods, "You know," he said, "All my life, I've been told never to enter Spargus Woods, and yet here we are."

"Kinda spooky huh?" I said looking in.

"Yeah, but that's where we gotta go, come on," with one hand on the hilt of his sword, and the other holding onto the strap of his pack, he took a deep breath and plunged into the forest. I took one last look back at our town, and then without further ado, stepped into Spargus Woods.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ch. 2**

"Seiya… come on wake up, we have to get an early start!" my brothers voice called from somewhere beyond my blissful slumber, "Seiya now!" With a groan I moved to sit up, but found that I had wrapped myself so tightly in my groundsheet I could not move. After much doing, I finally freed myself of the warm wrap, only to be assaulted by the cold morning air.

"Wh-what time is it?" I asked with a shiver.

"6:35," he replied. I rubbed my eyes and looked around. We had stopped the previous night in a small clearing after walking all day. Deciding that the trees provided all the cover we needed, we had used only our groundsheets to keep us warm during the night. My brother was hunched over the glowing embers of the remains of our fire from the preceding evening.

"6:35!" I exclaimed, "Are the bird even awake yet?" I moved to pull my sheet back around myself, but Kai snagged it away from me.

"There have been a few chirping, but for the most part, no the birds aren't up yet," he said sarcastically, "Now hurry up and get dressed, breakfast is almost ready."

Grumbling darkly I pulled my pack over to me and rummaged through it for my clothes. I drew out a tight green tunic, a darker green skirt and a thick grey cloak. I dressed quickly and wrapped the cloak around me to shut out the morning cold. Standing up, I pulled on my boots and walked over to the fire, where Kai had already begun frying bacon. Biscuits had been set to warm at the base of the fire and I grabbed one, munching hungrily. My brother cracked two eggs over the bacon and let them cook. Once they were finished we ate in silence. Kai was likely deep in thought, trying to trace our route on the map the elders had given us. I however was still wondering what it was about these woods that our parents had warned us about. I decided to voice my question.

"Ya know what I wonder?" I said chewing a strip of bacon.

"Hmm?" Kai said half listening, still looking at the map, "What?"

"What is it about these woods that is so dangerous," I looked up, at the shafts of sunlight beginning to poke through the foliage, "I mean, our parents always told us 'Never go near Spargus Woods, it's an evil place'. And now we're doing just that."

"Doing what?" Kai said, still not listening.

"Going into Spargus Woods!" I exclaimed, heedless of the fact that he was ignoring me, "Don't you think they had a good reason?" For some reason, that got his attention.

"Actually, no I don't," Kai said, finally looking up, "I've been inside a few times myself, and nothing ever happened."

"I thought you said you'd never…" I began.

"I said I'd always been _told_ not to go in to these woods," he closed the book and began to clean up our campsite, "Honestly Seiya, you should learn to listen." The irony of his statement was obviously lost on him, and I didn't have the patience to explain it to him. With a sigh I began to clean up, still developing possible dangers in my mind. By the time the sun had fully risen we had packed up and were underway. For the amount of gear we were carrying our bundles were surprisingly small and light. We owed that to father, he had always been a great woodsman.

"Well," Kai said with a frown, looking at his compass, "According to the map we should have reached the village by now… but I don't see anything," I had been re-lacing one boot. At his comment I looked around. He was right, trees, grass and bush as far as the eye could see.

"Maybe they moved?" I suggested.

"Maybe not," Kai persisted, "Let's try the Dragons Tear." I lifted my arm, where the jewel hung from my wrist.

"I don't even know how to use it," I said.

"Maybe it's like those magic color beads back home, you concentrate on it, and think what color you want it to be and it changes," he theorized.

"Why do I want it to change colors?" I asked slightly puzzled.

"You don't," Kai groaned, "At least I think you don't. Look, just concentrate on the jewel what you want to know." Looking at him doubtfully I decided it was worth a try. Laying the tear in the palm of my left hand, I looked at it, concentrating, all the while wondering where the next waker would be. The tear's colors began to shift, as an arrow of orange appeared to float inside the gem. It was pointing upwards. I slowly turned my head to look up, and gasped.

From a distance, the leafy boughs of the forest hid the sky from sight, allowing only thin rays of light to strike the forest floor. But their thickness hid a village, suspended in the trees. Pathways of wooden planks had been built across the large tree branches. Houses and small buildings had been constructed on platforms that had been anchored to the massively thick tree trunks by huge blobs of what appeared to be sap. Everything was made of wood, while vines, moss and thatch covered the roofs and hung from platforms. It was a moment before we noticed the people. They were tall, thin, their skin was a pale green in color, and they were garbed in various forms of lichens, moss and leaves. It was another moment before we realized that they were all looking at us. Any and all activity had ceased and every single inhabitant in view was staring at us. The crickets chirped in the glade as we stood in awkward silence.

"Uh…hi?" I said sheepishly. There was much rustling among them, and the crowd began to part as three tall men dressed in armor that looked to be made of some kind of bark ran across the platforms, leapt onto vines and swung down, landing in a perfect circle around us. My hand flew to my bow and quiver as they leveled their spears at us, but Kai grabbed my wrist and shook his head. One of the guards poked at me with his spear and made a strange whistling noise. I looked at my brother, who stepped forwards and looked up.

"People of the trees," he said, "I am Kai, son of Kairan, and this is my sister, Seiya. We come from Wyrtane and the dragon clan. We have come to find the waker." For a moment nothing happened, and then one tree man stepped forwards.

"I too speak the tongue of men," he said, his speech was slow and his vowels were slurred, but he was understandable, "I will take you to our village leader, he can help you." He looked to the guards and said something to them. They spoke back and then turned towards the vines they had swung down on. One offered me his hand, which I took rather suspiciously. He placed my hand on his shoulder, motioning for me to hold onto his back. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, watching as my brother did the same to another treeman. Then with amazing speed and skill, they climbed the vines straight upwards, leaping off and landing on the wooden platforms. The translator came to us.

"Follow me," he said. Kai glanced at me, sharing my curiosity, but we both followed him. The treeman led us across bridges, around tree trunks and over thick branches. The architecture was astounding, houses hung from limbs or wrapped around boughs seemingly suspended by feats of magic. We eventually found ourselves approaching a large wooden hut that wrapped around the trunk of a mighty pine. The treeman opened the door. And spoke in his whispering language. There was a lot of swishing inside and the treeman turned to us.

"You may enter," he said. We stepped inside and looked around. It appeared to be some kind of tribunal room. There were many ancient looking treemen sitting on large, ornate chairs in a semi-circle, facing the center of the room. In the center was a small dais and there sat a wizened, old treeman. He did not appear to be as old as many of the others, but he certainly had seen many hard winters. He looked at us and smiled.

"Shen-liu's light shines upon us," he said, "Long have we awaited your arrival Dragon Clansmen." There was a strange rattling all around, and we realized that the council was giving us their applause. Not quite knowing what else to do, I curtsied as my brother bowed.

"Wise one," Kai said, "We have come to find the waker that resides in these woods."

"Yes, sapling," he said nodding, "I know why you have come. But allow us to be introduced. My name is Ako, High Council of the Treemen and the Grassmen."

"I am Seiya," I replied.

"And I am Kai," my brother said, giving another bow.

"We are greatly pleased to meet you, Seiya and Kai," he said. He must have read the looks on our faces, for at the moment we were wondering why these elders seemed so happy to see us, "You do not understand what your coming means to us do you?"

"We cannot say that we do Ako," I replied.

"It was foretold, long ago that the world would be in great peril," Ako said, "And that at that time, the Treemen must aid the Dragon Clan in the saving of the world. For centuries we have passed down a light known as the Soul of Spar through our people. It has always gone to the one deemed most noble of our kind. Now that the Dragon Clan comes to us for help, we find that that prophecy has been fulfilled and the Soul may finally begin it's journey to find it's rest," he rose and hobbled towards us, "The bearer of that soul will be revealed to you in time, but first we would ask that you join us tonight, for there will be a great feast to honor the fulfillment of the prophecy."

I looked at Kai, and he looked at me. For a moment we wondered how long we could stay here, but it appeared that they would present the waker to us at or after the feast.

"We accept," Kai said, "We would gladly eat from your table." Another round of applause went up all around as the treemen swayed to and fro, expressing their joy at witnessing the event for which they had waited so long.

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That night the glens were alive with the sounds of music, and firelight. A large fire had been built in the center of what Ako said was their Glen of Ceremonies. Most of the Tree people stayed a good distance from the fire… and those that did were considered exceptionally brave and skilled. Five tree women did a dance around the fire, leaping close and then flitting away, much to the excitement of the onlookers. Around the fire several cooks were hard at work. Some were roasting meats, while others were busy over many large bowls. When the dance ended all clapped and the feast began.

A long wooden table was ready in the Glen of Celebrations, and we were all ushered to certain spots at the table. Once everyone was seated, the cooks came in. Large platters with all sorts of fowl were placed on the table. Bowls containing a rich dark substance were placed around as well and the people helped themselves. Some took meat, while others shunned the platters in favor of the dark stuff, which they piled on their plates in heaps. Someone next to us served both Kai and I two plates piled high with meat. Normally we might have gagged at the sight of so much food… but we were hungry and went to with a will. I looked around, curious as to what the dark stuff was, and noticed a grassman across the table from me.

"Excuse me," I asked him, "But what is that stuff?" I pointed to his plate. He laughed.

"This here is a hearty blend of soils, minerals, fertilizer and compost," he paused when he saw my confused look and laughed again, "Its dirt ma'am." I was astounded. It looked and smelled so good. The feast went on for about an hour, as many talked and ate. Some asked us of word from Wyrtane and we found that a great many of these tree people knew some of our friends back home. The feasting came to an end when Ako rapped his staff on the table.

"Friends, councilors, saplings and our honored guests," he said, "We celebrate the end of a long wait for our people. The Dragon Clan has come to take the waker on her journey!" A roar went up from the crowd. It took us a moment to realize they were cheering, as it sounded more like a stormy wind ripping through the trees. "Kai, Seiya, would you please come forth?"

We stood and walked to the end of the table to stand beside Ako. He motioned with his left arm and from a seat a little further down the table a tree girl stood and began to walk towards us. She was pretty enough, long green hair that fell in glamorous wavy locks over her shoulders. Her skin was slightly green, though her body was otherwise identical to that of a human. A crown of sunflowers adorned her head, and chain of bluebonnets that attached to a blue rose hung around her neck. She wore a dress of green moss; it was strapless and held just below her shoulders with a low neckline. It conformed to her hour glass figure and the flared out just below the thighs, where it split in the front and spread out to sweep the ground. She walked barefoot, and her skin had tiny gold sparkles all over, which I assumed might have been pollen. I looked at my brother and could tell he liked what he saw. I gently closed his mouth.

"Kai and Seiya," Ako said, "I would like to introduce you to Mandra. She is my daughter, and the waker you seek." We were both silent for a moment… then Kai was the first to speak.

"It is an honor to meet you Mandra," he said with a bow, "Our road will be perilous, and our troubles many, but we ask that you sojourn with us to save our people."

"I thank you Kai," Mandra replied with a curtsy, "And will be honored to walk this road with you. Together we will wake the dragon." While their language was unnecessarily formal I knew that my brother had chosen his words because he felt they fit the occasion… apparently they did.

"And now," Ako said, "To Celebrate!" Another roar of approval went up from the crowd and the real celebration began. Dancing and music, wine and laughter went long into the night. I remember falling asleep in a hammock of vines, watching the moonlight trickle through the leafy boughs, as lutes and panpipes played in the distance.

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The following morning Ako sent us off with these words.

"Though you're road is perilous, be strong," he said, "The Dragons Tear will show the way, trust the gem in all things. Also, know that your tribesmen are not the only descendants of the dragon race. There are others that will join you in you're struggle against evil. But beware, for even dragons may fight for a darkness they believe to be light."

As we tromped through the loam I pondered these words, while watching the tear. I had learned that it took focus to use it, and I hoped to make it respond to my wishes with greater ease. I focused the gem's magic towards Mandra, after a moment the gem changed to a milky grey color, a color that indicated uncertainty. She had every right to be uncertain. She knew only that she was following us wherever we might go. It occurred to me that I didn't know where we were headed next either. I voiced my uncertainty to my brother.

"We are heading north, to Whale Cape," Kai said, "According to the map there's a port town there. We've got about a day's march till we'll head east out of the forest."

"It's hard to keep north," I noted aloud as I watched his compass, "The trees keep getting thicker in that direction and we keep detouring to go around."

"The path changes," Mandra said softly, "The trees move as they please and sometimes change position to try and deter travelers from going deeper into the woods."

"Well they're certainly doing a good job," Kai said stopping, "Dead end." We looked around. A path led westward to our left, and as far as we could see, it didn't turn right. Thick bushes, branches and bramble blocked our path through the trees, and the trunks were closer together as well.

"We could just hack through," I said. No sooner had the words left my mouth than a mighty shudder traveled through the pines before us. The shudder seemed somehow menacing rather than in recoil or fear. As if the trees were daring us to try.

"No, I will lead you through," she said quietly, "Though if the trees are trying to stop you… there is usually a good reason."

"Whatever the reason, we have to get through," Kai said, "Exactly how do you intend to lead us?" With out speaking Mandra stepped forwards and walked straight into the thicket of thorns. But instead of getting tangled, the brush, thorns and even the trees themselves shifted to allow her passage.

"Follow me," she said, "Stay close please." We hurried to follow her, as the thicket closed behind us. We followed the compass, Kai checked his map every so often, and gave Mandra directions. We continued on, crossing paths and marching into the dense forest again. The trees were whispering. At first I thought they were simply rustling in the wind… until I realized there was no wind. I looked at Mandra.

"The trees, are making sounds," I said.

"They… they want us to turn away," Mandra said, "I have told them that we must travel this path, but still they speak."

"What are they saying?" Kai asked.

"They say, 'Beware the elm trees'," she looked puzzled after she'd translated.

"Why the elm?" I asked.

"Among trees each race is known for some attribute," Mandra said softly as ever, "The oaks are known for their great age and wisdom, the pines are most valiant and brave. The beech is a tree of laughter and good cheer… but the elm is a dark spirited tree. They despise men and most others who walk the earth in which they grow. They waylay travelers when they can." We broke onto another path… but this path lead straight in the direction we wanted to go. The trees behind us whispered urgently, while the plants ahead of us were silent. The trees before us were covered with moss and lichens and were bare of their leaves. So far we had been traveling through evergreens, pines, oaks and such. These trees had lost their leaves long ago when autumn had come. The floor was covered in a carpet of tattered red and gold. I picked up a leaf. It had mostly rotted, joining the compost of the forest floor, and it was impossible to make out what kind of tree had dropped this leaf.

"These trees are silent," Kai said as he began walking. Mandra and I fell in behind him, though Mandra looked considerably more worried than she had before.

"I once heard that trees sleep in the coming of winter," I said.

"These trees are not asleep," Mandra said, "They are silent… and refuse to speak to me." We continued on wondering what could have caused these trees to remain so sullen. Several times I thought I heard something following us, but I could see nothing… and so I said nothing. The path began to curve once more, and Mandra took up the lead to walk through the bramble. She stopped just before a large thorn bush.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"They deny me passage…" she said quietly, "I can't… I can't walk through."

"Then maybe the path will lead around," I replied.

"Somehow I doubt that," Kai said checking his map, "There's not much we can do now, and it's getting dark. We could end up getting really lost. I say we make camp."

"Fine," I sighed, and moved to drop my pack.

"No," Mandra said suddenly and urgently. She was always quiet, and her sudden burst of volume actually scared us, "No," she repeated more softly, "Not here... a little further down the road… under that rowan."

She pointed further down the road, where an old rowan hung over the path. It's golden branches reached out, and the elder and elms around it did not venture near it's spread. Here we camped. I unpacked mine and my brother's packs, while Kai took up the task of finding firewood. Mandra told him to be careful, as the trees would not take kindly to his purpose. He came back soon enough with dry wood, though he looked a little unnerved.

"What happened?" I asked as I worked at striking the fire.

"Something's out there," he said, unpacking our meal supplies, "Something was watching me."

"There are creatures that live in the deep forest," Mandra said, standing a good distance away from the fire wood as it caught alight, "They are not friendly, but usually are not savage either."

The fire flickered to life and I kept it alive until it became a full blaze. My brother set to cooking as I unfurled my ground sheet. Mandra was unpacking her own things when I noticed a very large leaf she had taken off her back. I asked her what it was.

"This is a leaf taken from one of the Great Wise Trees of this world," she said proudly, "It is an aspen leaf from the Wise Aspen on the eastern shores. It is used as a shield, and is imbued with protective magics to aid the one would be the waker from my people."

"An aspen…" Kai said thoughtfully, "The shield tree. I never knew it was to be taken literally."

"There are many trees said to have strange powers," Mandra nodded, "Most are true. This rowan is among five planted in this forest for the purpose of protecting travelers from the darkness and enchantments of the deep forest."

"Wait… if this is one of those five then we are…" I began.

"…in the deep forest!" Kai finished.

"Yes," Mandra admitted, "We have been driven into the deep forest."

"But the path I plotted sent us around the circumference of the deep forest," Kai said unfolding his map, "This map is old… but certainly it hasn't changed that much."

"Remember that for a while all we could do was go north," I said, "Perhaps the trees still managed to make us go where they wanted us to go, while making sure we still traveled generally north."

"It is possible…" Mandra said, "I have seen elder trees about us. The elder is not as wise as the oak, but it still is crafty. Perhaps we have intentionally been led astray."

"But led to where?" I asked. No one answered. I looked at Mandra, she may have known, but she did not speak and instead lifted a small wooden shovel from her pack along with a clay bowl.

"Excuse me," she said as she stood and walked a little way off from the camp.

"Seiya," Kai said, after a moment of silence, "What is it that's stalking us?"

"I don't know… why do you ask me?" I asked.

"You were always the better hunter," he shrugged, "I supposed you might have figured it out."

"I haven't," I said as I turned the meat over the fire, "But we are not alone here. Keep an eye on Mandra, something is in the woods to our left. It hasn't moved, but we don't know what it wants." I saw my brother's eyes flit leftwards, though he had the sense not to turn his head.

"Finish dinner will you," he said as he stood, picking up his sword, "I don't like Mandra being alone too far away."

I nodded as he walked after the tree girl. I took a couple of roasted apples away from the fire and waited for the meat. I played with a throwing blade in my free hand, waiting. Mandra and Kai eventually returned and we all sat down to eat. Apparently Mandra had been collecting soils to eat, while we munched on our own food. We finished our meal, cleaned up and turned to our beds. Mandra demonstrated suprising agility as she lightly climbed into the branches of the rowan, where the tree responded to her, cupping its branches to form a bed for her. My brother and I turned to our own beds. I lifted my quiver and bow to stow them near the trunk of the tree, when I saw it. A large bulky creature dashed across the path in the darkness. It was swift, but I saw it. I dropped my quiver, shoving it into the ground to stand upright. Drawing an arrow I set it to the bow, waiting for the creature's next appearance. My brother saw my action, and without a word, lifted his sword, hand on the hilt, waiting to unsheathe it. We were quiet, watching the darkness, as I scanned the area. And then I saw it again. My arrow flew as the thing shot between two trees, and I heard the disappointing thunk of wood. I drew another arrow, believing I had missed, and then it came at us.

It was made of wood, resembling a leafless tree, though considerably shorter. It had two thick wooden claws and a single great eye set in a large knot on its trunk. Though large, it was fast and I shot another arrow into it's wood. My brother's sword sang from the sheath as he lunged at it. His blade bit deep… deep enough it seemed to harm the beast. It shrieked, making a terrible whistling noise and swung at Kai with its claws. He leapt away, as it dived back into the tree cover. I pulled three arrows and waited for my target.

"Kai, I need a shot at the eye!" I cried.

"Done!" Kai said as he jumped after it. He kicked off of two tree trunks, before I saw him slash downwards. The creature was knocked off course and tumbled out of the growth. My bow twanged as the three arrows shout out. Though I was swift, it too was fleet and it dashed past me, its claw outstretched caught my rib. I was knocked to the ground, but rolled over in time to watch it sway in mid-run and crash to the ground. It fell face up and I saw that two of the arrows had hit their target. I smiled and moved to get up, when the pain struck me. The claws had done more damage than I'd thought, slicing open a decent gash in my side. I grabbed the wound whimpering with pain as my brother ran up.

"Good shot sis, you…" he stopped when he saw the wound and ran off to get his med pack, "Ya know, the point is to kill him, while not getting yourself hurt."

"Well it's not…nnngh!," breathing hurt as my torso expanded from air intake, " It's not like I did it…mmph, on purpose!"

"Yeah, yeah," He said as he knelt next to me.

"Wait…" I heard Mandra's voice from somewhere above me, "Let me." Kai moved away, and I heard some rustling above me. Then a soft glow descended over my body. I could feel the pain flow away and for a moment my vision was a white out. Then I could see again. Slowly I got up, and looked myself over. Blood still stained my clothes, and my hand, but the wound itself was gone.

"You're a healer?" I asked half in wonder as I tested my re-knit flesh.

"We of the trees have always had an affinity towards the magics of life," Mandra said modestly, "I'm not very good yet, but I hope to learn greater magic later. That was just a low level Cure."

"Good job," Kai said, "But we'd better get some rest now… I think we ought to sleep up in the tree like Mandra."

We all agreed to this and moved into the tree. The rowan clasped its branches for us, as it had done for Mandra and we settled in for a good sleep. The night passed without further incident, though I knew that we were being watched. Kai woke Mandra and I when breakfast was ready, and by sunrise we were marching down the trail once more. My senses were dulled by grogginess and early morning mist but my brother was alert as ever. I trudged along, slowly coming to full wakefulness when my hearing alarmed me.

"Duck!" I cried and everyone's heads went down. With a screech and a flurry of wings a black winged hawk nearly took Mandra down in the back of her head. Denied its target the bird screeched angrily and zipped skywards once more, shooting up through the leafless trees to the cloudy steel grey sky.

"What in flame's name?" Kai said looking up. I reached for my bow and an arrow, but my brother stopped me, "Leave it. Someone sent that bird…"

"Exactly why we should kill it!" I exclaimed as I took aim again. He grabbed the arrow from me.

"No, leave it," he repeated, "They can't have learned much, other than that we are in the deep woods, and have a tree girl with us. I doubt many demons can even know of our presence, so I'm curious as to who is spying on us."

I lowered my bow and with a grumble pushed past my brother to walk down the path. They followed and the path curved northwards once more. As we continued, the path grew steeper and steeper, going downwards. Mandra began to mumble something. I could see a break in the trees below and headed towards it. We reached the opening and Mandra gasped and clutched my brothers arm.

"What is it?" he asked her.

"The heart!" she whimpered, I had yet to see her this fearful, "The heart of the forest!"

"So?" I asked. I stepped out of the tree cover… and saw what caused her discomfort. It was a hill, a great grassy hill uncovered by the trees, laid bare to the slate sky. At the zenith of the hill stood an ash tree, like no tree I had ever seen. It was enormous, much larger than any of the other trees we'd seen. It's branches spread outwards and skywards, and its mighty limbs swayed in the gentle breeze. Even more alarming however was that the hill was peppered with little stumps… stumps with eyes. Scores of those tree monsters sat motionless on the hillside, their eyes all searching in different directions. I drew a pair of arrows from the quiver as my brother's sword slowly snaked from its sheath.

"No!" Mandra whispered urgently, "We cannot go this way. We can't!"

"We have to," Kai said, "This hill lies between us and the other side of the forest!"

"That!" she pointed to the great ash tree, "That is Yggdrasil! The greatest Wise Tree in the world! He is powerful, but nearly a year ago he became violent. None may see him, nor trespass upon his sacred mound. And those that do… die!" My brother looked at me and I returned the glance before speaking.

"This is the first great peril of our journey," I said, "What of the others? Surely on a journey to accomplish what we hope to accomplish, won't be as easy as it has been. We don't have to take out the tree, just get past it."

"Which means we run," Kai said, "For our lives."

"Fight only when we have to, dash beneath those branches and just fly down the other side," I looked at Mandra, "We have to do this."

After a moment she nodded and released her hold on my brother's arm, looking slightly embarrassed. She unstrapped her shield and slid it on her arm. I drew my arrows to the ready and Kai lead the way as he stepped out of the tree cover. Immediately every stump on the hill turned its eyes towards us. Kai froze… so did the stumps.

"What are those things?" I asked Mandra as Kai began to carefully, and slowly walk forwards.

"They are called the Trunks," Mandra said as she and I followed my brother, "Long ago a savage race of treemen decided to forsake knowledge and wisdom in pursuit of conquest and power. Without wisdom given by the gods, their minds began to fade, and they began to turn into normal trees. Through the magic of a spirit in these woods known only as Green, they remained living, and became the dark creatures we call Trunks."

As Mandra told the story we made our way up the hill. We looked around, not one of the Trunks moved to stop us, but simply watched our progress. As we drew closer and closer to the ash tree, it began to sway even more… though now I realized it did so of its own accord. The wind had died and the tree shook at our approach. As we began to pass under its shadow, it did the last thing we expected. It spoke.

"_Hrmmm, Whooo dares defile this… grrrm sacred ground!"_

We looked up. Mandra trembled, but stood with us. I could see that she was conjuring a healing spell. I tautened my bow string as we continued to pass under it's shadow. We had almost reached the other side of the tree when the earth before is released a loud ripping sound as a great root tore up through the earth, creating an impassible wall of earth and wood. The root continued to rise, tearing all the way down the hill, keeping us from passing the tree at all on that side. I looked at Kai.

"Around," I whispered.

"_I say again…hrrmmm, whooo dares defile this sacred ground!"_

We wasted no time and ran. Mandra was not as fast as us, so Kai slowed down, whil I sprinted around the massive tree's trunk. I could already hear the earth tearing and widened my gait. The root tore up and I jumped. Landing on the huge wooden appendage, I rose with it, and leapt upwards catching a branch with which I was about to swing myself to the other side. The branch shuddered and swung, throwing me upwards into the higher branches. I shrieked in surprise as I landed on another limb, and rolled just in time to dodge a large branch that tried to crush me. I fell into more branches, which pulled at me and swung at me, attempting to crush the life from my form.

"Yggdrasil, please!" Mandra cried, "I am one of the Tree people, daughter of Aok! We seek only passage through this sacred ground!"

"_Aok!"_ The tree roared wrathfully, "_That treacherous shrubbery and his tribe will pay for their crimes. I shall see the day that they come to their end!"_

This surprised us, but not as much as what happened next. The entire trunk bent forwards, and its mightiest branches swung downwards at Kai and Mandra. My brother picked up the tree girl and threw himself backwards, rolling down the hill. The limbs struck the ground with a loud crash and grass and dirt flew upwards. The trees distraction gave me a chance to escape. I hopped onto a large branch and surfed down its length before jumping to another and finally landing on the ground. And then I saw an opening. Part of the root rising out of the ground had left an empty arch beneath it. I knew only a little black magic, but what I knew just might save our lives, and our quest.

"Kai!" I cried. He looked up and followed my gaze. He nodded and lifted Mandra into his arms. I drew my hands together to form a circular hole between my palms.

"Fire!" I yelled.

An orange spark flickered between my hands, before blowing a fireball the size of a pumpkin at the tree. It batted at the fire ball with one of it's limbs, but in the process it's leaves caught fire. I began to run, following my brother. I saw him stumble as a mesh of branches smacked him in the back, but he kept running. I blasted another fireball, though this one was weaker than the first. However the flames were keeping the tree occupied. As it's leaves began to catch and burn it groaned loudly, and rammed it's limbs into the dirt attempting to smother the flames. I stopped and focused on the spark between my hands.

"Fire!!!" I cried more forcefully. A very large fireball, stronger than the first two, flew at the tree. My aim was true, the blazing orb flew through the large limbs and into the leafy boughs near the tree's center. With a whoosh of flame the leaves went up in flames and began to spread. The tree cried out and shook, batting itself with its limbs.

"_Grooom! You shall not… hrrrm pass!!!"_ It roared and then shuddered, "_Hrrm, Tetra Wave!"_

A spike of magic surrounded us and the earth responded. With a mighty upheaval, spires of stone shot upwards as huge chunks of dirt were blow skywards. Rocks and stone battered us and we fell to the churning dirt. The tree shoved its greatest limbs into the earth and lifted the huge slab of stone beneath us high over it's trunk.

"_Be…grrrm gone!"_ with a powerful heave the tree hurled the slab of stone into the air, with us as its helpless passengers. The stone turned and flew, as we were held against it by sheer centrifugal force. I could see the tree as we flew away and it shook its limbs and trembled. The dirt and soil beneath its roots rose and flew over the tree, covering it and smothering the flames in its branches. Then with a jarring shock we struck the ground. The stone absorbed the brunt of the impact, but we were thrown from it. I sailed and then struck the ground. The world reeled and then darkness claimed me.


	3. Chapter 3

**CH. 3**

I awoke in darkness, I could feel my limbs, that was good, but I couldn't see. After a moment I opened my eyes, but the results did not change. My disorientation continued until I found that I was face down on the ground. With a painful groan I rolled over to stare at a star speckled night sky. I set about feeling myself, to make sure nothing was broken. Everything was fine… except a rib that felt fractured and a nasty gash on the back of my head. I hoped Mandra could fix it. Then it hit me.

"Mandra… Kai?" I asked. I sat up and looked around, there was no moon, and so I searched by star light. I tried to stand, but collapsed and was forced to crawl. I could see a shape on the ground and moved towards it. My hand caught a foot, up a leg and finally I pulled myself face-to-face with my brother.

"Kai," I said, wincing, my own voice seemed too loud in my head, "Kai, wake up!" He groaned and I shook him weakly. Off to my left a soft green glow appeared. I looked over and saw Mandra slowly rise to her feet. The glow ebbed away and she slowly walked towards us.

"Are, you okay?" she asked.

"No," I groaned, "Help…" I my vision was clouding. I passed out again just as Mandra's green healing glow began emanate from her hand.

I came to once more to find Mandra tending to my brother. He was rubbing his shoulder as the Cure spell faded from his body. I checked myself again, good as new. Blood matted my hair, but the gash was gone. I pushed myself up to my feet. I still felt a little wobbly, but no more pain.

"Mnn," I grunted as I stood up, "Where… Where are we?"

"Way off course," Kai said, "The tree… that Yggdrasil threw us eastward, at least that what I remember. If you stop and listen, you can hear the sea."

I paused and cocked my head to the side; sure enough I could hear the sound of crashing waves in the distance. I gathered my things to me, strapped them on and headed towards the sound. The other two followed, and finally I reached the lip of a cliff. Below, nearly forty or fifty feet down, the ocean lapped at the stone wall. I looked further down the wall, northwards, to see a line of trees marching into the distance.

"So the path through Spargus is closed to us," I said with defeat.

"Yes, we'll have to back track a little," Kai replied checking his map, "I had tried to go through the woods, because it was on our way to finding Mandra. There is another way to get where we need to go though."

"And that would be?" I asked.

"Well since the first waker was in the woods, I assumed the others would be beyond the forest," he explained, "This being the case, I wanted to travel north. South of here is a little fishing harbor town. It's not much, but they do trade with Whale Port, on the Whale Cape, north of here."

"Perfect…" I muttered. Things would work out, but I didn't really feel like backtracking, nor did I much care for a sea voyage.

"Well, there's not much we can do now… it's dark," Mandra said meekly.

"True…" my brother agreed, I saw him look through his sack, though in the darkness it was hard to discern his actions, "I'm missing some of our cooking gear, and my sword is gone as well."

"Yeah, my pack must have opened too when we hit," I said, looking through my half empty sack.

"Fan out," he ordered, "We'll search as best we can."

We spent about an hour blindly groping through the grass. Gear was recovered, a pot or two, some of my lost arrows, Kai's ground sheet and various other items. Fortunately we appeared to have recovered everything. Kai and I met back on the stone slab as I noticed that I was out three arrows, not a great loss, but still I wanted them.

"Where's Mandra?" Kai asked me.

"Here," she said quietly from somewhere off to our left. We noticed her figure approach, and something long in her hands.

"What's that?" I asked.

"This…" she paused, "Is a bough from the tree… from Yggdrasil!" For first time since we'd met her she sounded excited.

"And?" Kai said, "Does that mean he's spying on us?"

"No," she said, "Among my people, the branches of Yggdrasil are rare and highly prized for their power and innate magic. Branches such as this can be carved into staves upon which glyphs of magic can be imprinted to cause it to grow in power."

"Interesting," Kai said, and indeed he seemed interested.

"Can it conjure us something to eat?" I asked.

"Well…." Mandra began, I could see she was about to launch into another long explanation so I stopped her.

"Uh, that's okay," I chuckled, "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"In the meantime," Kai said, "I say we find a way to get some light and start walking. After being unconscious all day, I'm not much for sleep."

We agreed and cast about for something to set on fire. Kai found a large root in the ground and with some difficulty ripped it up. Mandra bound one end with long dry grasses to aid its burning. My brother held up the makeshift torch and I concentrated to summon a Fire spell. In a moment the torch was aflame and gave us light to travel by. We began to walk, following compass and torchlight, and the sound of the sea. We traveled through the night, until finally exhaustion claimed us and we made camp beneath a tree. No fire did we light, nor any preparations of any kind. With out groundsheets wrapped about us we fell asleep at the trunk of the tree, to await the first light of day.

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Morning came with Mandra alert, and warning us to be silent. I lay still for a moment, allowing wakefulness to wash over me, before lifting my self from my bed. I could hear several voices and looked around to catch my bearings. We had fallen asleep beneath several bushes, at the base of a lonely cedar. I peered through the bushes and could see a dirt path, cutting through the otherwise green turf. On the path several men were sitting around on rocks, appearing to be taking a rest. In the center of their circle, five people were chained, back to back on the ground. After further inspection I determined their races. One was a small Woren cat-girl, two others were humans, one was a Windian man with fluffy white wings on his back, and the last was a Lupine, a dog-man from the eastern continents. Of the five, the Lupine was the most impressive, to me anyways. He was very well muscled; in fact one could tell he was some kind of warrior. His short black fur glistened with sweat, and though his eyes seemed dimmed with fatigue, his nose twitched, betraying how alert he was. He was of a Doberman breed, with short pointed ears and a long muzzle, quite handsome in all aspects. His pants were ragged and he had no shirt, it appeared as if he'd been captured sometime ago.

"What's going on?" My brother asked me in a low voice. His question was answered when the men began to speak.

"So Amos," the first said, "How much further do you reckon it is afore we reach the next town where we could sell off this lot," he indicated the people in the circle.

"Keep yer shirt on Gath," Amos replied, "Once we gets to market, this little trip will have all been worth while."

"Slavers!" Kai hissed in my ear, I silenced him with a hand over his mouth.

"But boss," another said, "We's been travelin' fer days without findin' anyone who'll take 'em off'n our hands. What if no one wants 'em when next we gets to market??"

"You're a ninny Sal," Amos said to the man, taking a swig from his canteen, "We'll sell 'em off alright, soon enough. People don't trust freelance slavers, they prefer market bought slaves, and they's more reliable that way."

The other six men agreed, and murmured among themselves, and we could discern no more of the conversation. Kai's sword slowly slid from it's sheath, and even Mandra brought her shield to bear.

"Shall we rescue them sister?" he whispered to me. I sighed, unshouldered my bow and tightened my quiver at my waist.

"Very well," I said, as I fitted an arrow to the bow. As Kai and Mandra stepped out of the brush, I took aim and let fly. The arrow whistled through the air, striking the apple in Amos' hand and pinning it to the tree behind him.

"No body move," Kai ordered, following up my warning shot. The slavers obeyed, "First and only chance to release the slaves and walk away."

"An' what be you?" Amos asked, "Highwaymen? Bandits? Robbers?"

"We just don't like slavery," Mandra said quietly. Again she surprised me, so meek, and yet now she appeared to have an edge to her. I stepped out of the brush, and notched another arrow.

"An' what makes you think we'll just give 'em up so easily?" Gath asked. It was then that I noticed something wrong. There were now eight men… where was the ninth.

"Get down!" the Lupine roared. We instinctively ducked and Mandra raised her shield. Three arrows thunked into the green leaf, and the slavers leapt to their feet, drawing steel. I turned and sent an arrow at the unseen archer, disappointed by the dull thunk of wood. Mandra prepared a spell and followed my brother as he rushed the slavers, the battle began.

I rolled aside as four arrows struck the ground in rapid succession, the archer was using a crossbow. He jumped up out of the bushes and dashed across the grass. I fired once, missed, fired again and caught him in the thigh. He fell and rolled, bringing his bow to aim again. I back flipped into the bushes behind me, as the arrows whizzed over my head. I hit the ground and let loose another shaft. This one found it's mark in his chest. He fell and did not rise. My brother was not faring as well. He and Mandra faced eight men alone, and though her shield protected him while he parried and deflected the blows, they were fighting a loosing battle. I climbed the tree, stood on a branch and began raining arrows down on the slavers. One went down, before another threw knife at me, forcing me to abandon my perch.

"Release me!" the Lupine cried, "I will fight!"

Realizing the sense in his words, I rushed past the slavers kneeling at the chains working to undo them. The lock was shoddily made, and I snapped it open with my hunting knife. The chains drew out of the shackles and the Lupine jumped to his feet. The Windian picked up the chain and followed him, while one of the human's grabbed a nearby stick. The numbers were evened somewhat, but even so…

"Now there will be vengeance flesh-trader," the Lupine growled as he lunged at Amos. Amos, drew his sword, a beautifully crafted katana… certainly not a weapon from these regions. The trader appeared a bit clumsy with the blade, but could certainly handle it well enough to protect himself. The Lupine snarled and went at him with tooth and claw, while Amos swung the sword seeking to slay the man. I fitted an arrow and shot a trader through the shoulder, just as he bore down on Mandra. The tree girl beat him to the ground with the edge of her shield before lifting it again to block a knife stroke. Blood spurted as Kai's blade tore through a man's midsection, and next to me another slaver with down with a cry as the Windian and human bludgeoned him mercilessly.

I ducked a sword swing aimed for my head and lashed out with my foot. The man's hand caught my foot and attempted to throw me. Instead I pushed up with my leg and dealt him a spinning kick across the face. Notching an arrow I pointed it at him, and then was tackled from behind. The man on my back clutched at me, as I held his arm from stabbing me with the knife it held. Suddenly he cried out as he was hauled off of me by Kai. The human raised his club and gave the man a brutal blow to the head, knocking him to the ground. Kai stabbed the slaver I had kicked down and turned to deal with the remaining two. Mandra appeared to have somehow gotten the best of one man as she was beating him with all her might with her shield. Another man grabbed her and pulled her away from his comrade before the Windian wrapped his chain around the slaver's neck and strangled him. The beaten slaver stood to take his vengeance upon Mandra, before Kai's sword seemed to suddenly grow out of his chest. My brother withdrew his blade from the man with a twist, as we turned to see what had become of the Lupine and Amos.

Amos was not doing well. The Lupine's fists proved all the weapons he'd needed to best the slaver. Bruises on his face, showed the powerful blows the dog-man had dealt, but Amos still fought hard. He caught the Lupine with a kick to the stomach, knocking him to the ground. As the slaver jumped on him and moved to stab him, the dog-man's powerful arms wrapped around him and constricted. Amos tried to stab him, but the Lupine's jaws clamped onto his arm, drawing blood and holding the blade out of the way. Amos struggled, and swung with his free arm, buffeting the dog-man with blows that became successively weaker. He tried to scream, but there was no longer any air in his lungs. As his failing lessened, we realized the dog-man was literally squeezing the life from the slavers body.

"Either release him or, finish him," I shouted. With a snort the dog-man dropped the slaver, who fell the ground, choking and gasping. He took the sword from the man's hand, and unbuckled the sheath from his belt.

"Thank Namanda that this lady has saved your life today slaver," he said with a snarl. He sheathed the blade and began to walk away. Amos lay on the ground glaring, and then I saw his movements draw a knife from his boot, Mandra saw it too.

"Look out!" she cried. I drew an arrow, but the dog-man was faster. The slaver lunged and the Lupine twirled, drawing his sword and with one swift move thrust the blade through the man's chest. The dog-man gave the sword a sharp twist and pushed the slaver off his weapon, he died with a gurgle.

"Fool," he snorted with disdain. My brother cleaned his blade on a dead man's shirt, while I retrieved what arrows I could find. I also took the crossbow from the archer… not really my style, but I could sell it in town.

"Where… I mean," Mandra said to the freed slaves, "How were you captured."

"We are from the Whale Cape," the human woman said, "I'm Cindy and that's Harris," she pointed to the human man who was arming himself with the slaver's weapons.

"I was taken while I was making a pilgrimage from Winda to the shrine of St. Eva," the Windian said, "I hoped to see the Saint's Light on the Day of Sacrament, but these slavers held me, and I have missed that holy day. My name is Carver."

"And you?" Kai said to the dog-man as he walk among the slavers, gathering anything that could be of use, "How were you captured?"

"My story… can wait for the moment," he said, "We should clear the road of these bodies, anyone happening upon us may believe us to be mere murderers."

"Well…" I said, my conscience had been nagging at me, "We did kind of just walk up and kill them."

"And it is well that you did," Harris said, speaking up, "If you had tried simply pass peacefully, they would have taken you as well."

This did not quite assuage me, but I set to work, helping the others drag the bodies into the bushes on the edge of the path. It was fortunate that the bushes were there, because the rest of the area was green plains, and digging would have been a chore for this many bodies. Once we had sufficiently cleaned up the site, we conversed among ourselves. Cindy and Harris decided to do as we were and take a boat back up to Whale Cape. The Carver bade us farewell, saying he would return home with a great testimony of how St. Eva had delivered him from his oppressors. At that remark the dog-man snorted, but said little else.

"Then it's settled," Kai said, "So… lets go."

"What will you do?" I asked the dog-man. He paused for a moment and looked at the little Woren girl. She nodded to him eagerly and he smiled.

"I suppose we will travel with you as well, for the time being," he replied, "In town we may buy clothes and food. So if it is no trouble…"

"No trouble at all," my brother replied, "We'd be honored."

And so we set out, by this time, the morning had passed and the sun had risen to it's noon height. We came to the top a hill, and saw the sea. A small town, sat on the edge of the water, suspended on docks and barely attached to the land. It was a happy sight for me, I was tired of walking. I hoped that I would gain greater stamina for this sort of thing, adventuring was proving to be harder than it at first sounded. The little Woren girl bounded happily down the slope, as the lupine watched her.

"So… who are you?" I asked him.

"Ah yes, introduction," he said, "My name is Fenris, I come from the woods of the north-east. My tribe has ever been locked in war with the Woren tribes that live on our western border. Seeking to abandon such senseless violence, I took to the road, traveling west along the coast to escape those of my tribe that might try to follow me. On my way I met Kita, on the streets of Winda" he looked at the little girl rolling down the slope. Her ragged dress was taking more damage still as the grass stained it, "She was alone and lost, with no one to take care of her, so I took her with me. Then the slavers caught us, and their leader took my sword," he lifted the sheathed blade in his hand, "And so we were brought thus far. But what about you, why have you traveled so far?"

"We are of the Dragon Clan," I said proudly, "This is Kai and I am Seiya, our town has protected the seal on the underworld for who knows how long. The seal was broken and we were chosen to gather the wakers to 'save the world', or something to that effect."

"This is Mandra," Kai said, "She is of the Tree people, and as a waker as well." Mandra bowed.

"A waker?" the dog-man queried. We spent the next half hour explaining the entire situation in detail. By the time we were done the lupine was highly intrigued.

By this time we had reached the entrance of the town. Kai split us up, and divided the money we had taken from the slavers among us. Mandra and Cindy were sent to buy food. Kai and Harris went to go find an inn, while Fenris, Kita and I headed to market to sell and trade for clothes and weapons. We would meet back at the town square by 3 o'clock. As we browsed the stalls I selected a sky-blue dress and petticoat for Kita, while Fenris took two yukata robes, one black and one blue also added a belt to hang his sword. For myself, I decided to buys something a little more comfortable for traveling. My current outfit, though stylish, wasn't exactly friendly to long walks in the sun. I chose a sensible tunic and a short skirt, with a grey cloak for warmth at night. Thicker brown boots were more comfortable than the ones I'd been using, and a pair of fingerless gloves completed the ensemble. I bought a second cloak for Kai, as Fenris and Kita came back with a few things they'd picked out for Cindy and Harris.

The armory shop proved more difficult. We sold off the slavers weapons, though it took a lot of haggling. Fenris seemed to have a knack for making a deal and finally got a decent price out of the stingy blacksmith. We then set about spending our newly earned money. A shirt of scale mail caught my eye and I bought it for my brother, along with stronger armor plates to replace the ones he wore. A form fitting breast plate, obviously crafted for a female, hung on the wall. It was too small for me, but after speaking with the black smith I acquired one that would accommodate me. A small fore arm shield slid snuggly over my glove and I bought it as well. Thinking of Mandra I remembered that she had no armor, aside from her shield. I could guess her measurements pretty well, she was better endowed than I was, so a breast plate a little larger than mine would do the trick, or so I reasoned. A second scale mail shirt and thigh greaves for Fenris and I finished my purchase. Kita and the dog-man had been busy buying weapons, and we left the shop back to the town square.

"So, everyone done?" Kai asked as we arrived. Mandra and Cindy held a few baskets brimming with food stuffs.

"It appears so," Fenris replied.

"Alright then, follow us," Harris said, and we did. The led us through the busy streets, as the sun moved slowly towards the horizon. We stopped before a green painted inn, a sign above it named it as _The Green Dragon_.

"Are we sure this place is safe?" I asked my brother in a low whisper.

"The man who runs the place is loyal to the Dragon God," he said, "I assumed we'd be alright." Harris held the door for us as we walked into the smoky tavern that was the inn's first floor. Kai led the way up the stairs, around the corner to three rooms, opening each with it's respective key.

"That one is Cindy and Kita's," he said as he opened the first, "This one is Seiya's and Mandra's and Fenris, Harris and I will sleep here," he unlocked the last door.

We walked in to our rooms, as I dropped my bundle of armor and clothes on the floor, and looked around. The room was nice, a pair of beds in the center, a small round window on the far wall, and a small dresser on the other side of the room. Mandra sat on one bed and smiled.

"I've always wondered where other people sleep," she said, "I'd heard of these beds, but never actually seen one."

"Well now you get to sleep in one," I laughed as I dropped my travel pack and tossed it on top of the dresser.

After we'd gotten settled in, Fenris and I passed out our gear. The dog-man explained that the shop hadn't much in the way of weapons, but he'd bought what he could. A quiver of arrows with sleek, tapered feathers to give them greater speed, were presented to me. He handed Mandra a dagger since she had no weapon besides her shield. The tree girl took it gingerly, I could see she didn't plan on using it. Kai was content to stick with his own sword, which was good, since Fenris hadn't been able to find a new one, but he gave my brother a dirk as a back-up weapon. He promised better equipment once we reached his own territories, but we thanked him and were genuinely grateful. After putting away our things we headed down to the tavern.

"There's a table," Mandra said meekly. We followed her gaze to a circular table at which we all sat down. After ordering a few things from the young waitress we watched the and play until a speaker came on stage.

"Thank you, thank you," the man said, "And now we will be given an evening sermon by Father Ceric in honor of St. Eva," that got our attention. A few patrons gave polite applause, but for the most part the tavern was silent as the priest climbed onto the stage.

"Good evening friends, and greetings in the name of St. Eva," Ceric began. Apparently there were a few believers in the audience because the greeting was returned, "Tonight I will be speaking to you from the book of 1 Meridian 3:14 of the Holy Scriptures of Eva."

"Why is an Eva priest up there?" I whispered to my brother. He didn't reply, but stood and walked to the bar. I saw him converse with the owner as the sermon continued.

"The scriptures say, 'and in the time, there will be a great stir among the people of the earth. The temples will rise and men will rejoice as the Light draws near.'" He paused to let us absorb his words, "The scriptures say that the time is coming. For years the church of St. Eva has lain dormant, while evil men prospered, making the poor poorer and widows and orphans were no more than beggars in the street. But the time is coming, the church has come to world again, and St. Eva has come as well, to offer a better life. For those who worship St. Eva there is no suffering, no fear, nor ill will for together we are… brothers. And sisters," he added when some of the women gave him a look. By this time Kai had returned.

"He says that the priest paid very well to have the stage for just a little while," Kai said, "Apparently this little town doesn't do much business so high paying customers are accommodated."

"But where did a priest get that much money?" I asked.

"He said that man in the corner," Kai pointed, "Paid for the priest."

I followed my brother's finger to a young man sitting at a corner table. He was… well gorgeous. Short white hair with two long bangs that framed his face accented his sliver/blue eyes. He wore light silver armor with a temple cloth draped over his shoulders inscribed with a temple crest. White pants with several straps down the legs ending in light brown boots were propped up on the table, as he leaned back in his chair. He carried no visible weapons, though his limbs and overall body spoke of hidden strength.

"The paladin?" I asked, still looking him over.

"That's the one," Kai said, "Apparently he paid some five thousand gold for ten minutes on stage." I whistled, as the sermon went on.

"I am not the light, but simply a lantern bearer," Ceric was saying, "I bear a testament to the salvation that only St. Eva can bring, a freedom and a cleansing, a renewing of the soul. Ours is the way of peace, that all men may know the glory and the light of our great Saint. But there is evil in this world, evil that would take men and destroy them. I will leave you with this verse from 2 Meridian 2:22-23, 'But in those days there will be darkness, flames that walk the land and devour men with their flame. They are serpents come to steal life with their poisonous fire. The people tremble as the earth roars with the groanings of an awakening Dragon.'"

A darting look passed between us four, and we looked at the other three. Cindy and Harris seemed to not only understand, but agree with the priests words. Kita was fortunately too young to care and was tugging on Fenris' robe asking him when the food would get there.

"If any would like to learn more of the Path of St Eva, I will be here, come to me and I will talk with you, thank you for your time," as he walked off the stage, applause rose. But it was different, instead of the one or two that had applauded his appearance, it seemed that the whole tavern was now lauding his speech. I lifted my arm and gazed at the dragon pendant. The jewel there clouded and shifted colors to a light orange, the color of good humor and good will. I turned the Tear towards Father Ceric as he left the stage. The tear turned purple the color of… love? It was not violet, which was a deeper romantic love, just a steady purple, bespeaking a general affection for people at large. The paladin in the corner was too far away, but I didn't have much time anyway for our food had just arrived.

"Finally!" Kita cried joyfully. The waitress set down our plates and we set to with a will. I turned to Mandra who had opted to gather soil later.

"Mandra," I said, "Do you see that guy in the corner?" The tree girl turned and looked, then she turned back to me blushing.

"Yes," she said quietly.

"What do you think of him?" I hoped that perhaps she might notice something that I had not.

"Well… he's apparently strong," she said, "He looks like a fighter, but he seems… peaceful. His face has a serenity that my people would praise… and yet his eyes trouble me somehow…"

"That all?" I asked.

"Well he's very good looking… but," she stopped, blushing fiercely. I giggled and so did she. Kai finished his meal and spoke up, but quietly.

"I don't get this," Kai said, "The Church seems… well, good. They appear to want what we want, peace, prosperity, all that good stuff. But… I get a strange feeling, something not quite right, and something behind it."

"Agreed," Fenris said, as Cindy and Harris got up to get drinks at the bar, "Were it not for my allegiance to Namanda, I most certainly would be wooed by this saint. But it seems as if you feel as I do. I can't place my finger on it, but even though they speak of peace their own members seem… battle ready."

"Be not so skeptical my canine friend," a voice from behind me came. We looked up to see the white haired paladin smiling warmly, "There are those of us that must protect the peace we hold so dear."

"This is true," Kai answered just as warmly, while Fenris fixed the man with an appraising stare, "Won't you join us brother?" he asked. I looked at Kai, but my brother returned the gaze with confidence and so I said nothing.

"I would be delighted," he said as he sat next to me in the seat Cindy had recently vacated.

"So brother, tell me," Fenris said. I had begun to notice that the dog-man always appeared calculating, "Who might you be protecting your peace from?"

"There are many who would see the church felled my friend. Peace is not profitable to all men," he said, his tone less jovial than it had been, "But where are my manners, my name is Nephilas, I am a White Paladin of the High Temple at Evri." We introduced ourselves as well, and Fenris asked another question.

"Evri?" he asked, "I thought those were ruins? I'd heard that work was underway to restore them, but I did not know it had been rebuilt."

"That it has not," Nephilas said, "But the blessed Saint speeds our workers, and the stones rise of their own accord to the craftsmen's hands that they may serve their divine purpose. I am of the White Paladins who guard the city and it's builders."

"What brings you here?" I asked him.

"Father Ceric was my priest when I was young," he replied, "He's begun a missionary journey to spread the news of St. Eva. He asked that I come with him to protect him from bandits and such. My place on this journey is purely a formality, for not many bandits would attack a man of the church."

"Superstition?" Kai asked.

"Hmm, perhaps," Nephilas allowed, "But St. Eva has been known to protect those who worship him."

"So where are you headed next?" I queried.

"South to a little place called Farm town," Nephilas said, "The people there mostly believe in the 'earth god' Namanda, but our missionaries tell us that some may yet convert and see the light." We nodded, not in agreement but simply because there was little else to say.

"Well if you will all excuse me," Mandra said rising slowly, to my surprise Nephilas stood as she did. His action prompted Fenris and my brother to stand as well. I giggled, the situation was awkwardly amusing.

"If you'll excuse me," Mandra said, blushing slightly at Nephilas' gallantry, "I'll be off to my own supper."

"I'll go with you," Kai said, "It's dark out, wouldn't want anything to happen to you."

"Indeed," Fenris said, though what he meant was something of a mystery to me. With a slight curtsy, Mandra left the table with Kai as Nephilas and Fenris took their seats again.

"I'm tired," Kita piped up. She had been busy listening to the music play and I could see that she was nodding off.

"I'll take her up," I offered to Fenris. The dog-man nodded in thanks. Taking Kita by the hand I led her out of the tavern and up the stairs, hearing Nephilas and Fenris strike up another conversation behind me.

Upstairs we headed for the bathtubs, which were being freshly filled with hot water by the maids. It was good to take a bath. After days of fighting and walking it felt good to wash all the grime and dirt off. After scrubbing myself squeaky clean I wrapped myself in a towel and headed down the hall, Kita came bouncing after me a moment later. After putting on pajamas and brushing tangles from her hair I put her to be before taking care of my own hair. I was still in front of the mirror when Mandra came in.

"Evening," I smiled.

"Oh, evening," Mandra said as she walked to her bed and sat down.

"How was your dinner?" I asked, looking at her through the mirror.

"It was nice," Mandra said smiling, "I'd never had sand before… it's actually tastes pretty good."

"I hope Kai wasn't too much of a bother," I said as I combed out a bang.

"Oh he wasn't," she said, "It's actually good he came along."

"How's that?" I asked.

"Well, there were some strange wolves out there…." She said, "They kept their distance mostly, but they kept circling us. And there was this strange bird…"

"Bird?" I said looking up at her.

"Yes… it was circling overhead," she replied, "But once we started heading back it flew away."

"Hmm," I said as I put down the brush. I walked to my pack and withdrew some things to sleep in, and noticed Mandra's branch, "So what are you going to do with that?" I asked pointing.

"Well, it needs some carving," she said as she walked over and picked it up, "But I'll need to find some glyphs or runes to carve into it…"

"Fortune tellers and the like might be able to help you with that," I said as I changed and headed for bed.

"Hmm, that's a good idea," she said as she undid the fastenings on her dress. I plopped into bed and pulled over the covers

"Well, we'd better get to bed," I said, "The ships leave early so we'd better be up in time to catch one."

"That's true," she said as she slid into the other bed. Her reaction to the bed was amusing. She wiggled on the mattress, inspected the pillow before pulling the sheets over. Even once she'd settled in she looked a little perplexed, though comfortable.

"Ha-ha," I giggled, "You'll get used to it."

"It's actually quite comfortable," she smiled.

"Well, G'nite," I said as I snuffed the lamp.

"Night," she replied.

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The following morning was very hurried. Fenris and Harris had awoken before everyone else and found a boat that was willing to take us north. They returned and woke us up as we hurriedly dressed, packed and left the inn. The wood planks of the dock oozed mist as the sun began to rise. I yawned sleepily.

"Well, I must say that was more comfortable than the woods," I muttered.

"I second that," Kai said, "I take it you slept well sister."

"Very," I replied, "Fen… where is this ship?"

"Right there," he said, pointing as we reached the end of the dock. The boat was large, a merchant barge that had a large load of goods strapped down by nets.

"Ahoy!" the ships captain called, "Ahoy there, hurry aboard we've got a fair wind an' we'll be castin' off!"

We rushed down the dock and up the gangplank. A few crew men took our packs and stowed them below while we acquainted ourselves with the ship.

"Alright now, all aboard will be expected to pull their own weight, understood?" the captain shouted.

"Aye, aye!" was the general reply from the crew so we followed suite.

"Alright then, get to yer stations you swabs!" he ordered loudly. The crew scrambled while we awaited orders.

"Alright then… what to with you?" he looked at them, "Alright then, you two," he pointed to Kai and Fenris, "Up the riggings and into the yard ye'll be workin' the sails an' ropes!"

"Aye, aye," they said not quite in unison and moved to run off before Kai stopped.

"Umm… what's a rigging?" he asked. The captain however didn't waste time and was already assigning Harris to help out securing lines to the deck.

"You there," he pointed to Cindy and Mandra, "Ye'll be goin' below decks to help the cook in the mess prepare our midday."

"Aye, aye!" and "Yessir!" came the reply and the girls hurried off.

"You'll be helpin' the men with the fishin' missy," he said to me, "I reckon you've got a fair aim with a harpoon."

"I'm pretty good," I agreed.

"What about me?" Kita asked bouncily.

"You little missy will be climbin' up top to help ole' Tom up there with the lookout business," he said.

"Yippee!" she cried and ran towards the main mast. Before we could stop her she jumped and scrambled straight up the mast.

"Woren folk, amazin' people," the captain said as we watched her bound through the sails up to the crows nest. He looked at me and frowned, "Why are ye still standin' here? Get on with you!"

"Aye, aye!" I said and headed for the left side of the boat.

"Castin' off Cap'n!" a sailor called.

"Hoist anchor," the captain ordered, "Billow sails! Helm at the ready! Here we goes!"

The barge pushed away from the dock, the wind caught the sails and in no time the ship was sailing over the sea. The helmsman took us a good ways out to sea before turning us north. We were well underway within the hour. The sailors I worked with used mostly nets, except for two who opted to use harpoons like myself. Taking careful aim we searched the briny depths for large fish that wouldn't be brought up by simple nets. I noticed that while the nets caught more fish and we caught fewer, we stood the chance to catch larger game. I couldn't see any of my friends… except for Kita. After about two hours we all began to wonder if it had been a good idea to put her on lookout duty.

"Seagull off the port bow captain!" she yelled down to us, before she got an answer she was shouting again, "Cloud up in the sky cap'n! Dolphins off in the distance cap'n! Water, off the starboard bow, cap'n!"

"Kita!" I heard Fenris roar in frustration from mid-ship.

"Angry doggie on deck cap'n!" she giggled. This made everyone else laugh too except Fenris who began climbing to riggings after the little cat girl.

"Luncheon!" Cindy called from the hatch while banging on a pot with a ladle, "Come and get it!" A few sailors stayed on deck to keep an eye on things, while the rest of us and the crew went below.

Down in the ships mess, Mandra, Cindy and the cook had made a sort of stew out of various vegetables and the fish we'd caught. The sailors dug in with abandon as we ate gratefully, it had been a hard morning. Lunch passed quickly and we all went back to our posts. The fishers and I caught more fish, this time to sell once we got into port. As the sun journeyed down from its noon pose, I noticed the crew became restless, as a strange feeling of dread seemed to wash over them.

"Land ho!" a cry from the lookout bellowed down to us, followed by Kita's shrill squeak confirming the sighting.

"Hey ho! Land Ho! Land ho captain! Look, there's land!" she squealed.

"Alright all hands on deck and quiet all o' ye!" the captain ordered, "We'll be sailin' by silence from this point on. I don't want nothin' in the water but the keel o' the ship and no noise in the air but the sound of the wind. Stay away from the railin's and no one below decks. We goes absolutely quiet, aye?"

"Aye," the crew replied… but rather hushed.

"Why are we…" Cindy began to whisper to me when the captain spoke.

"Alright from this point in… quiet!"

No sooner than he'd spoken the words total silence fell upon the barge. The only noises were the creak of the wood, the wash of the waves, and the ruffle of sails. The helmsman guided us slowly towards land. I looked up and caught sight of my brother high on the end of a yard arm. He was looking down… past me, into the sea. I wanted to go look overboard, but remembered the captain's words. It seemed like hours of silence and I lifted my arm and gazed at the Dragon's Tear. The gem shifted colors… and revealed the pale green of fear… and then the green began to deepen, showing the emotions of the crew to be near panic. What it was they were so afraid of, I could not tell, but their fear began to frighten me as well. And then we heard it.

It was a low groan, deep and loud… from beneath the water. It started out as a low rumble and rose to a higher pitched grumble. I looked up. The sailors on the masts were transfixed, gazing into the water on either side of the ship. Whatever it was… I started to think I didn't want to know. Kai and Fenris appeared to be trying to converse as silently as possible, and I noticed that my brother's hand was on the hilt of his dirk. Fenris had left his own weapons below decks, but it appeared that now he wished he hadn't. The lookout climbed down from the mast and went to the captain. After a moment of whispered conversation the captain spoke in a low voice.

"Alright men," he said, "We've made the crossin'. We'll be puttin' in to port any moment now, but remember we's still in grim waters. Move quick and quiet. We unloads and heads back home as quick as gulls. Move!" the sailors scattered. Kai and Fenris climbed down and our own little party gathered in front of the captain.

"What about us?" Harris asked.

"We thanks ye for yer help mates," he said, "The men'll bring up yer things. We'll lower the gangplank and ye can leave ship fer land. But a word of warnin' mates, stay away from the sea, an' get out of Whale Port."

"Why?" I asked a little nervously.

"Evil's afoot here," he said, "But 'tis bad luck to speak of such things. Know that somethin' foul be lurkin' these waters, an if'n ye values yer lives, ye'll leave the port."

A few sailors walked up to us and handed us our packs and things which we strapped on and headed down the gangplank. The sun had begun to sink below the horizon. The captain waved us farewell as we stepped onto the docks. Not a person in sight… nor was there any sound from the town. We stepped off the wood docks and onto the cobble stone streets. Though we saw no one, I knew we were watched by eyes unseen. I raised the pendent again, and the tear shone pure emerald. An unspeakable fear gripped this town.

"By the dragon," Kai whispered in shock, as I too looked up and gasped.


	4. Chapter 4

**CH. 4**

Whale Port was near ruins. But the manner of its ruination appeared most shocking. While the docks were built on the low seawall, the town itself sat at an elevation just below sea level. Fortunately the seawall protected the port from flooding, but it appeared that even the cliffs hadn't been able to stop whatever had flooded the town. Everything on the ground was under water, had we stepped in it might have come as high as our shoulders. Anything that was not under water, however, was blackened and scorched, as if some terrible fire had swept in with the water. It appeared that the people had survived, but were in the business of packing up. As far as we could see, the docks themselves were the only active part of the town… and even the bustle we had expected of such a busy port was subdued. Behind us our barge unloaded its cargo, while other sailors on the dock began carting off the crates.

"What happened here?" Mandra asked in quiet horror. No one answered.

Small fishing boats floated about the town, driven by men with poles as they aided women and children in ferrying them and their things to the dry land of the docks. Fenris stepped forwards to the waters edge as one such boat pulled up to shore.

"Excuse me sir," he said to the ferryman, "But I wonder if I could ask you what happened here?"

"What happened here?" the man said looking up his eyes filled with despair, "Charybdis happened here!"

"Charybdis?" Fenris asked.

"A terrible force in these waters," the man said glumly, "His might is untold and he has begun tormenting ships from here to Sky Tower! It is said that the sea and sky obey his command… and we have seen his wrath."

"How did this happen?" Kai stepped up.

"A fortnight ago," the man licked his lips nervously, "One of our sailing ships was brought under by the whirlpool of Charybdis. In an effort to avenge their unjustly slain comrades a harpooner with our strongest men went out to sea. They found Charybdis and struck him with mighty blows from their harpoons. By some miracle of heaven they triumphed and drove him deep into the waters, wounded and bleeding. But… Charybdis would not suffer their deed unpunished, and he exacted his vengeance upon our port. By his strength he sent a wave of water upon us, while the sky rained thunder and lightning upon our homes. Those that were not drowned were slain by the fire caused by the lightning… and now only we few are left."

Someone called from across the watery town and the man excused himself as he poled his boat to aid the survivor.

"A tragic tale," Fenris said… though he did not sound at all tragic.

"Indeed," my brother said then he paused as he watched the people on land moving their things, "But where are they going?" Taking the initiative I walked over to a young woman who was lifting a few bags.

"Excuse me miss," I said, "May I ask where you are all going?"

"To the Albatross," she said, "It is a great sailing ship that will take us across the sea to the safety of the eastern shores."

"What of the monster?" Mandra asked with meek concern, "What is to keep him from attacking your ship?"

"Even Charybdis will not take this ship," she said with a hopeful smile, "Captain Kalua is a man of faith and believes that God will protect us in our journey across the sea."

"What God does he believe in?" I asked skeptically.

"Does it matter?" the woman said, "His God protected him from Charybdis on his journey here, and his God will protect us on our journey back," so saying she lifted her bags and headed off towards the docks.

"There will be no peace here," Fenris concluded after a moment of silence, "We must move on."

"Fortunately we didn't live here," Harris said, "Our home is further inland. If you'd like a place to stay for a little while… it's the least we could do."

"No…" Kai said, "Thank you but no. Our quest is quite pressing and we must continue…" he trailed off as he began digging in his pack.

"Well, if you ever need anything, we'll be more than happy to oblige," Cindy said.

"I'm a woodsman and carpenter, if you ever need anything built," Harris said, "I don't care how big or small, let me know."

"Thanks, we'll remember that," I said smiling. After a few more farewell's the couple headed off west, circling around the town towards their home.

"We have two choices then," Fenris said thoughtfully, "We can move north, or take the ship east."

"How do we decide which?" Mandra asked.

"Like this," Kai said with triumph as he pulled Sten's map from his pack, "Seiya, the tear please."

As my brother held the map open I lifted my arm with the tear over the map, holding it over our current position. The gem turned orange and then began to tug towards the east on the map. I let my arm follow and the tear stopped to hover on a port town on the eastern shore. The tear released a thin shaft of yellow light to pinpoint the town.

"Looks like a place called Township," I replied.

"And this is where we find the next person?" Fenris asked.

"If the tear is right, then the next waker is across the sea," Kai said as he looked up, "Which means we need to get on that boat."

"Which means more sailing," I groaned, "Lets hope this time we don't have to do any of the work."

Mandra quietly picked up her things and began to follow the stream of pilgrims headed away from the town. Fenris and Kai followed suit while Kita and I brought up the rear. As I walked away I looked back at the town. The area was on enough of a slope that it would eventually drain, but even so these people's homes were beyond repair. If the town were ever to thrive again, it would have to be rebuilt from scratch. I breathed a sigh of compassion and followed the others around the corner to the northern docks.

"Whoa…." I heard my brother say. I looked up, and was also amazed. The ship was magnificent. Great white sails billowed from mighty masts that rose from the wide deck of the gilded vessel.

"Now _that_ is a ship," I replied.

"Hurry now," a man on the gangplank was saying, the sailors on board were lifting children and baggage into the ship, while others walked up the plank, "Hurry now, we must be off by the morn."

We paused as we watched the steady stream of refugee's board the ship. Even as they did so, I felt something strange about the ship, and about the man, who appeared to be captain, that stood on the plank. Kai perhaps felt it as well when he spoke.

"Perhaps…" he started, "Perhaps we ought to ask if we may pass on the ship. But I would like to camp on the land tonight."

"Why?" Fenris asked.

"I'm… still a little woozy from our last voyage," Kai admitted, "I would like to spend as much time on solid ground as possible."

"As would I," Mandra said. Though I was pretty sure Kai was lying, I could see Mandra spoke the truth. Though her skin was always greenish, she had borne a sickly look in her eyes when we saw this larger ship. But true to her nature, she had said nothing.

"I see," Fenris said as he cast about for a camping spot, "Then perhaps a bit further inland?"

"I will speak with the captain," Kai said as he walked towards the boat, "You all find a spot."

Mandra and Kita turned and started walking back towards the town. Fenris and I followed, and found a tree beneath which we set up camp. Kita and I went out for firewood, while Fenris began to prepare dinner. Unfortunately most of the wood was wet, but we found what little dry wood we could and brought back even a few pieces of wet drift wood. In the end, a flint and tinder would not light the wood and I was forced to conjure a fireball which I directed into the pile of wood, with rather explosive results. Mandra had made sure to stand well away during the process. Once the fire had become a lively crackle, Fenris began cooking, as Kai cam back.

"Well, we have a spot," my brother said as he dropped his pack, "Though the captain has said that he cannot assure us that Charybdis will give us unhindered passage. But he says that God will protect us, whoever that god is."

"So… who exactly does he worship?" I asked, "Shen-liu? St. Eva? Namanda?"

"I don't know," Kai said as he sat down on a log, "He didn't say."

"Perhaps it is someone more obscure," Fenris said as he began to serve up a seafood stew he'd made from the fish the sailors had given us.

"Maybe he doesn't know either!" Kita giggled. This made us laugh, and soon all questions were drowned out as we set to eating. It appeared that Mandra had taken a liking to sand, as she had filled her bowl with the gritty stuff. For some reason, Kai tried to get her to try some fish, and after much coaxing she finally took a bite. She appeared to like it, but said that meat was not a healthy part of a tree person's diet. Still she indulged in a thin fillet before we finished our meal. After cleaning up and wrapping ourselves in TR54TR5421our ground sheets, I drifted off to sleep under the stars.

An hour later I awoke, why I was not sure, I only knew that a strange light emanated from within my blanket. I lifted my arm, to reveal the Dragon's Tear, blazing with red light. The color red described anger, and the brighter the light, the deeper the wrath. I stood and shivered against the night wind and looked around. The Tear tugged on my arm and I followed its lead, following it to the shore. It lead me to the end of the one the docks where it held itself horizontal, pointing out to sea. I peered into the blackness, seeing nothing but a storm rolling in. And then I caught a glimpse of something. Something large. It roiled from out of the deeps, far out at sea. The waters swelled with its mass, and then as a great branch of lighting struck across the sky, it was revealed. A thunder clap deafened me as I beheld a leviathan, great and terrible. Smooth thick skin, a great cavernous mouth, and entirely larger than any being I had ever seen. Though it was very far out in the water, it still appeared large from where I stood. A second lighting bolt scarred the night as the leviathan leapt from the waters, arched and then dove head first back into the water. So great was its length that for a time it formed a complete arch between its exit and entry, before I saw its mighty tail, with two fins branching on either side, leave the waters, only to disappear beneath the surface moments later. It's reentry to the water created a great hole, which became a swirling whirlpool, before with a thunderous clap; it closed once more, leaving a pillar of water to ascend to the sky.

For a moment I could not move, nor could I speak. The first drops of rain broke my shock, and I looked up to see the rain clouds rolling in. My senses returned to me and I ran back, as the tear's light began to fade.

"Rain!" I cried as he ran back to camp, "Rain, everybody rain!"

My comrades roused themselves. Fenris and Kai quickly set about setting up the tents, while Kita and Mandra gathered everyone's things to themselves. I rushed down the hill, looking behind me as I saw a wall of falling water, rush across the sea. The first tent went up; fortunately it was the largest for I could see they would have no time to set up the second. Much of our equipment could be ruined by so much water, not to mention all our clothing soaked. Kita too seemed to recognize this, for she began tossing everything into the tent, while trying to shove Kai and Mandra inside. Fenris had begun to set up the second tent, but realized that it was a lost cause and followed the little cat-girl inside the tent. I reached the tent and rolled in under the low flap as Kai fastened it behind me. The wind and rain struck us with such force, that Fenris and Mandra grabbed the poles of the tent to keep it from falling in on us. Fortunately our shelter held. As the storm raged, the initial force wore off, and the tent stood steady.

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The following morning was a soggy one, beneath a sky of grey. Needless to say our parties spirits were somewhat dampened as we piled out of the tent. As I stretched my sore back I vowed never to sleep on top of my brother again. Kita bounded out, bouncy as ever, and frowned at the sky.

"Aww, no sunny shine," she pouted. I shook my head and helped Mandra crawl out of the tent.

"We'd better get our things together," Kai said as he dragged himself from the shelter, "The captain intended to leave as early as possible this morning."

"What time is it?" Mandra asked as she quietly lifted her waist pack and strapped her shield across her back.

"Nearly seven-thirty," Fenris replied after a glance at his pocket watch.

"Then get to it," Kai said as he began to break down the tent. I scattered the ashes of our fire after we decided to take our breakfast later that morning, assuming we'd have time once we boarded the ship. Once we'd packed up and erased our campsite our little party of five headed up the hill towards the ship. As we walked I grabbed my brother's arm and drew him towards the back of the group.

"Kai… I think I saw it," I said.

"Saw what?" he asked.

"The thing, the monster…. Charybdis," I replied.

"You saw…. Seiya, this isn't like your dragon is it?" he asked.

"I saw that too!" I said, and at that moment a connection clicked in my head, "In fact… it was the same dragon that was defending the shrine."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Well, I can't be absolutely certain," I said, "But It was about the same shape, black and that white mane was pretty distinctive."

My brother said nothing as we crested the hill and came into sight of the ship on the other side of the ruined town.

"Well?" I asked him.

"What was it like?" he asked. I described it as best I could and there was another long silence before he replied, "Well, then we may be in for quite a voyage."

"What if it attacks?" I asked.

"Then we must pray we can repel it, survive it somehow," he said with a shrug. I left it at that, he didn't seem to have any plan… nor did I for that matter, so like all the other passengers we could only hope and pray that we survived the voyage. Our party made its way up the gangplank to stand on the wide deck of the ship, where the captain greeted us.

"Good morning," he said cheerfully, "Stow your luggage below, we'll be departing any moment now."

I looked across the deck of the ship. On the port side deck, where we stood, ropes from the riggings were lashed to the bow, forming a web of lines that climbed into the yard arms high above. The span of the deck was much greater than that of the previous vessel we'd ridden and a great many hatches and gratings pocked the smooth hard-wood of the deck. The bow sprite was ornamented with a beautiful angel woman, whose wings swept back along the hull, just above the waves below. The deck rose towards the aft and gave way to doors that led into cabins, above this, on an elevated deck sat the helm, behind which the poop deck surmounted the aft of the ship. Lilly white sails sat furled, high above us, awaiting their release to carry the ship across the waters. All in all it was a most impressive vessel. We descended down a flight if stairs through a hatch and placed our things in one of the smaller caches. I left my bow and quiver, but kept my knife and throwing blades, noticing that my brother also slipped his own dagger into his boot. I quietly advised Mandra to do the same, and she hid her blade with in her dress. After having sufficiently prepared we headed back up to the main deck, where the crew was busy tying down lines, carting crates and climbing the riggings into the yards to unfurl the sails. The last of the town's refugees boarded the ship as Fenris announced that it was now ten a.m., according to his pocket watch.

It was a solemn business, as the crew raised the gangplank, stowed all cargo below and cast off from the docks. Most of the town's former residents stood on deck, to look forlornly towards their ruined homes. At an order from the captain, the anchor was weighed and the oars splayed to cut the waters and slowly push the great ship away from the port. I rushed to the fore, to watch as the ship turned away and began to make its way out into open water. I held the Tear up before me, out of curiosity, wondering if that monster was anywhere near. But the gem remained its normal clear crystal. I turned it back towards the crew. Their feelings were mixed. Shades of green, light red and grays swirled through the jewel, as I was too far away from the men to lock onto anyone specific. The sea breeze blew through my hair, lifting it in whorls about me. My thoughts turned to our mission, as well as other things, such as the strange absence of demons that threatened our quest. After some time, I made my way back down to mid ship, where I found Mandra sitting with her back to the mast, looking down at her lap.

"Mandra?" I asked, "You okay?"

"Hmm?" she looked up, appearing a little dizzy, "Oh, it is nothing. I just… do not like sailing."

"Perhaps we should get you below decks," I said reaching down and helping her up. We descended a short flight of stairs into the passenger's bunk area, where Mandra soon went to sleep. After making sure she'd be comfortable I headed back topside, where the passengers had dispersed and the crew was hard at work, unfurling the sails to catch the wind. I caught sight of my brother, leaning of the starboard bow and gazing out onto the watery horizon.

"Hey," I said as I stepped up next to him.

"Hey," he said with a faraway look.

"You okay?" I asked. He didn't answer for a moment, then turned and looked at me.

"We're being watched," he said.

"What do you mean?" I asked him.

"You recall the hawk that tried to attack us in Spargus?" he asked.

"Yeah?" he said.

"There was a bird circling over Fish Port when we stayed the night there," he said, "It was hard to tell, but it appeared that it too had black wings."

"Yeah…" I replied, beginning to follow his clues.

"And just as we pulled out of Whale Port, there was a black winged hawk, sitting on a lamp post at the end of the dock," he said.

"You're sure it's the same bird," I asked.

"As sure as you are that you saw the same dragon," he replied, searching my eyes. His gaze was uncomfortable; he did that when he was trying to tell if I really believed what I was saying. I returned his gaze with as much confidence as I could, and eventually he returned his eyes to the sea below.

"So someone has sent their pet hawk to spy on us," I said, "Not that I can see that doing much good, hawks can't tell anyone anything."

"I learned once that a well trained hawk can bring clues to his master," he replied to me, "If the bird returns with empty talons, then he missed his quarry. Such birds bring back all sorts of things, a twig from a certain tree, a nut, a berry, even things like clothing or jewelry if the bird thinks such a thing will tell his master where he had been."

"I'm not sure I follow," I said puzzled.

"Say when we were in Spargus Woods," Kai said, "Say the bird snatched a twig from one of the elder trees there. Such a twig would give who ever owns that bird a good idea of where we are, if he knew we were heading north, then he knows we are near elder trees in Spargus Woods."

"And the only are in those woods that grows elders is the deep forest," I finished as I understood.

"Exactly, that bird knows what it is doing," he said, "It's kept up with us thus far, I just want to know who sent it."

I could see he needed some time to think, so I left him alone and went to go look for Fenris. The dog-man had found a place at the fore, watching the ship cut through the waves, as the wind began to carry us, belling out the great sails over our heads. I heard the scrape of the wood as the oars were racked below us and we began to sail purely on wind power.

"Hi," I said as walked up next to the lupine. He turned to me and nodded, his ears tipping forwards.

"Morning," he replied.

"So what do you think of the captain?" I asked him.

"Why do you ask me?" he returned.

"Because so far, with everyone we've met, you're the first one to formulate an opinion on them," I said, leaning backwards with my elbows up on the rail, "You're a very calculating man."

"Ah, I see you've noticed," he said with a slight smile.

"That I did, so now if you'd answer my question, please," I giggled.

"The captain?" he said with a pause, then continued, "He seems harmless enough, though I would like to know what this 'god' is that we worships. Only two things bother me however. I have seen no religious symbols or paraphernalia about this ship, save the angel on the stern."

"Hmm, that is true," I looked around me, noticing this for the first time, surely a man as devout as the captain claimed to be would have some sort of symbol about, "And the other thing?"

"His speech," he said.

"What about it?" I asked.

"The man is a sea captain," he said, "I spoke with one of the sailors, they said he's been sailing these waters since before he could walk. Built his own ship, put together a crew and has been sailing ever since."

"Uh-huh," I continued, not really understanding.

"If he was born at sea, lived at sea, and has been surrounded by nothing but sailors," Fenris continued, "Ought he not possess their accent as well? Many sea captains are well spoken, but even so they have the accent of a buccaneer. And yet this man speaks like a gentleman, no slang, not even the slightest hint in his voice that would make one believe he commands a sea going ship."

"Hmm, I suppose," I nodded, it didn't really seem like a big deal, but it could be called a little suspicious, considering the circumstances, "Well, I'm going to go see how Mandra's doing." The dog-man gave me a nod and I headed below decks.

Down in the hold, crew men labored, racking this and stacking that, while other heft barrels up the stairs. I moved across the rocking wood beneath my feet before coming to the bunks. Mandra had been alone when I first brought her there, now the bunks were filled with mothers and children, some crying, others laughing while the mothers tried to corral their young offspring. I made my way through the ship towards the back five bunks that we had claimed for ourselves. Mandra was sitting upright on her bed, holding her large branch in one hand and the dagger in the other. She'd hacked off all the twigs, leaves, knots and any other irregularities, and had shortened the branch a bit to make it useable as a cane, rather than a staff. She appeared to be having some trouble.

"Problems?" I asked as I sat on my bunk, across from hers.

"This wood is hard," she said, "Harder than I had expected. It often repels my blade entirely."

"Magic?" I queried.

"Perhaps," she replied, "Though Yggdrasil's boughs are known for their strength," she said as she sawed hard, finally succeeding in shaving off an irregular edge of the cane. She twirled it experimentally. It was long enough to reach the ground from her hand if she were walking, but short enough to use as if it were a sword of some sort. I drew my own dagger and held it up. Mandra brought the stick down on the edge of my blade hard. There was a dull thunk, as we hacked both weapons at each other, and then Mandra withdrew the stick satisfied with the experiment. She examined the wood and smiled as I looked as well. The stick had suffered no injury, not even a nick from my blade.

"If it is that strong," I said, "How do you intend to carve it?"

"I suppose with magic," she frowned, realizing that this would indeed be a kink in her plans for the stick, "A well trained mage, ought to be able to do something against it, brand the runes in perhaps."

"That could work," I nodded leaning back in my bunk, as Mandra swept the wood shavings through the cracks in the wood floor. A horn sounded from somewhere overhead, and a metal pipe that ran across the ceiling overhead rattled, and then a voice came out of it.

"To all below deck," the captains voice echoed through the hollow metal tube, though at sometime sit was faint if he didn't speak loud enough, "We are informing you that we will be sailing silent within the hour. An unconfirmed sighting has just been made by the lookout. During this time we ask that you keep all sound to a minimum and that you remain at your bunks. Thank you."

The mothers around us quickly shushed their children and gathered them to themselves, trying to keep them quiet. I looked at Mandra puzzled.

"How did he manage that?" I whispered.

"Manage what?" she asked. I pointed up at the pipe.

"That! His voice coming out of the pipe?" I asked.

"It is an aluminum tube, belled at our end, with an audio magnifying cone at the other," Fenris said as he and Kai walked slowly over to us, Kita was riding my brothers shoulders.

"What?" I asked.

"He talks into the tube on one end, and the sound travels through the empty tube down to us," Kai explained. I nodded, only half understanding, but deciding that it wasn't important.

"So… what did they see?" Mandra asked as Kita scrambled off my brother's shoulders and into her bunk.

"They think they saw Charybdis," Kai replied as he sat next to me. Fenris vaulted up into his bed over Mandra's head.

"How close?" I asked.

"They didn't say," Fenris replied, "But there are clouds gathering overhead, they believe Charybdis control over water will allow him to bring rain upon us, and possibly conjure a storm."

"He means to destroy us?" Mandra asked. There were shrugs all around. None of really knew what the creature was capable of, or what he might do.

Mid-day came and passed before the storm finally broke upon us. The ships rocking increased, forcing Mandra to go back to bed. After a few hours of chatting, Kai decided he wanted to go exploring, and examine the ship below decks. Kita was taking a nap, so Fenris joined him and I decided not to be left behind. We made our way out of the bunks and to the under deck, which we walked across. Sailors moved this and that, and we often had to stop entirely as a particularly large barrel would require the entire space of the hall to be moved. Our progress continued until we reached the ships mess, where the sailors ate. Spying another set of stairs, Fenris led us downwards another level. The second level was the hold, and so we went down once more… to find ourselves in the dark. A single sputtering torch sat in a bracket on the wall, though it did little to illuminate the darkness. Kai took it from its place on the wall and stepped forwards. There appeared to be an aisle of some sort, leading down the center of the deck. Kai lifted the torch a little higher as we passed a bench. We examined it with curiosity once Fenris noticed a pair of shackles anchored at the base. Kai continued a little further.

"Guys…" he said. We followed and I gasped. This bench was occupied. An old man, half naked, and chained to the bench sat sleeping. His head rested on a long pole in front of him, to which his hands were chained.

"Kai," I said as I examined the pole, "I think this is an oar," and indeed it was. A thirty foot long wooden oar, was attached by shackles to the old mans wrists. At the moment the oar was racked to keep it inside the ship and out of the water. The man began to stir.

"Sir? Are you alright?" Kai asked.

"Gimme," I said as I took the torch from him and proceeded down the aisle. In the dim light I could see there were other oar slaves on either side of me, but I continued towards the front. As I had expected, there was a large drum, and to the right of the drum sat a big bronze tub filled with some liquid. I looked at the tub, stepped back and tossed the torch in. The moment the torch touched the surface, the liquid burst into flames, flaring bright and hot. It illuminated the room, revealing many rows of benches, each with at least two oar slaves chained to an oar.

"Wow…" Fenris said as he looked around. The slaves began to stir, quickly waking and taking hold of their oars. They looked at us, blinking from the brightness of the light, looking rather fearful. My brother took charge of the situation.

"Excuse me," he said a little loudly, I saw Fenris motion for him not to make too much noise, "Excuse me," he repeated, then pointed to a young man upfront, "You there, who are you?"

"Jacob, from Capitan, sir," he said, cowering slightly.

"Jacob," Kai said, "How did you get here?"

"We were captured sir," he said, "This ship, landed on our shores after a group of bandits raided our town. They promised safe passage to the south…. But halfway through the voyage we were all taken below decks and chained down here. After that, they made us row the ship, often for days when the winds went foul."

"Are all of you from Capitan?" Fenris asked.

"There are a few Guntzians over there," Jacob pointed, and in the corner five bull men raised their heads.

"Are there any other slaves on this ship?" Kai asked.

"Down the stairs, on the lowest deck," Jacob said, "The ship kidnapped some women from Tunlan, they've been locked down there… to be used by the sailors." That made my blood boil.

"Alright, I say we have a talk with the captain," I said.

"Agreed," Fenris said, "No man should be made to live like a dog." Coming from him, the statement was slightly humorous and I stifled a giggle. He frowned when he caught the irony, "Come on." We headed down the aisle past the slaves, and Kai stopped before we left.

"We'll be back to free you," he said, "One way or another."

We headed upwards, past sailors, of whom our opinion has been greatly lessened, and across the deck. After much coaxing, I convinced the boys that the captain might try to imprison us as well, and so we returned to our bunks to gather our weapons. I woke Mandra and told her what was happening. After a moment, she insisted on going with us, reasoning that if we fought, we'd need her to heal us. She picked up her shield and new wand.

"Wait," Fenris said as he looked about, "Where's Kita?"

We cast about, searching the bunks, the little cat-girl was no where to be found. Kai strapped on his sword and frowned.

"The captain," he said. Fenris growled and led the way out of the bunks, up the stairs and opened the hatch to the main deck.

The rain was pouring in sheets, as we stumbled across the rocking deck of the ship. The waves around us were incredible, often times seeming to tower over the ship, before crashing down back into the sea. We slid across the slick deck, while Fenris helped Mandra along. Kai finally reached the door of the captain's chamber and pounded on the door. Against the buffeting wind, he wrenched the door open and we stumbled inside, letting the door slam shut behind us.

"Where is she!" Fenris barked. Kai placed a hand on his chest and stepped in front of him. Before us was a long table, and at the far end was a small fire place. Windows on either side of the room looked out into the black roiling seas. At the end of the table, before the fire place was a large chair, in which sat the captain.

"Now now, temper my good Lupine," the captain said, as he turned slowly in his chair, "You wouldn't want to upset the poor kitty would you?" As he turned to us, he revealed a malicious smirk, though it was not as horrifying as what he held. It was Kita, sitting, trembling on his lap with a collar and chain around her neck. He was slowly stroking her hair as if he were petting a kitten.

"Get your hands…" Fenris lunged, and Kai held him back. I stepped forward.

"Sir? Could we have our companion back?" I asked adding a note of sweetness to my voice.

"You think your self sly of tongue serpent?" he replied with a dark chuckle, "But you do not know how much I know."

"You knew," Kai said, "You knew we'd found the slaves."

"And that you would try to free them," he replied, "Of course. But I cannot allow you to do so. You see, they feed our God."

"Your God?" I asked.

"Yes, the greatest force of this world," he said, "He feeds upon the souls of men. Their fear, their misery, their brokenness of will and spirit gives him strength, and we must give him power that he might rise once more. Their terror brings him sustenance, even as the trembling of this poor little girl gives him strength," he looked at Kita as he stroked her hair. My attention was suddenly drawn to the Tear. It was swirling through it's colors, growing darker and darker.

"Just let them go, and we won't have any more problems until we reach the port," Kai said.

"Ah, if it were only that easy," the captain said rising, then stepping up onto the table he began walking towards us, the light in the room seemed to dim, "But I am afraid, that there will be no peace for you. Your kind has meddled enough, and now your quest has come to an end."

My eyes were locked on the tear, as it grew darker… and finally turned to black, the color of evil. Then the tear began to glow, first softly, then greater, emitting a terrible black light from its depths. The captain tossed Kita at us, and Fenris caught her.

"Out, now!" Kai cried, opening the door as Mandra stumbled out, already preparing a healing spell. Fenris followed and I was last, as I drew my bow from its quiver. Kai slammed the door behind him and we skidded down to the deck. There was a loud bellow behind us, and the door to the captain's cabin blew outwards. Kai and Fenris drew their blades.

"All hands, on deck!" the captain roared above the storm. Across the deck, every hatch opened, and sailors crawled out.

Through the rain we could barely see them, and I notched an arrow to my bow. The sailors began to advance, slowly and methodically. Kita scrambled onto Fenris' back, holding on with her legs and tail, leaving his arms free to fight. As the sailors stepped forwards I could now see they were no longer men, if indeed that had been in the first place. They were grey skinned, and warty, with bulbous eyes that were entirely black. Claws on their hands and feet, dug into deck as long, red tongues curled around the wicked knives they held in their fangs. A long, spiked tail whipped behind them as the crawled forwards, and the Tear shone brighter than ever with the black of their evil hearts.

"Slay the dragons!" the captain ordered,

The sailors, who I now realized bore a great resemblance to some of the lesser demons that had attacked our town, jumped a full thirty feet into the air, and came down at us, like a wave to smash us. I opened fire, while Mandra scrambled away to safety. Two fell, pierced by my arrows, before I was forced to jump back as they slammed into the deck. Kai and Fenris rushed forwards, this was their work. My brother's sword flashed as a demon fell with it's throat torn. One jumped on his back, and Kai rolled forwards, straddled the demons chest, and impaled him. Fenris, though obviously enraged, displayed a warrior's form that was cool and calculating. His strikes were precise and swift, barely giving the demons a chance to touch him. Where my brother utilized speed and creativity, Fenris traded these for focus and precision. One lunged at the dog-man's back, but was repelled by a fierce scratch across the face from Kita's claws. The little cat girl was doing her part as well, angrily swinging her little claws at anything that got close enough. It was almost cute.

Kai suffered a blow to the stomach, and a scratch down his back from a pair of claws. Both demons soon died for their insults. I rushed in as well, firing and reloading, missing occasionally, but never more than once. Behind me I felt a spike of magic as Mandra attempted a healing spell, though this one was stronger than those she had used before.

"Cure Well!" she cried, a little woozily.

A green light surrounded Kai and instantly all his wounds were healed. Not only this, but the blood that had been drawn from the cuts appeared to dry up as well. A demon sailor tackled me, and I thrust an arrow through his eye, before notching it to my bow and taking another down through the back. Though we were outnumbered, the sailors were not gaining any ground, and were actually losing. I realized with excitement that we were indeed winning. Bodies lay about us, and we had yet to suffer any truly staggering wounds. With a cry, Kai leapt upon the final sailor and slew him, withdrawing his blade as he looked up at the captain.

"Well done," the captain said a she began to walk down towards us. His body began to change, expanding somehow, his skin melting away as we could see the muscle structure beneath, "But you will not survive me!" His muscles suddenly began to flay from the bone, forming into long tentacles. His head expanded, growing into that of a shark as a large dorsal fin exploded from his back. His arms were gone, replaced by tentacles that bore razor sharp bones, and his feet and legs had melted together into a long fin. He roared to the thundering sky, transformed into a demon. He turned to us and snarled.

"Give your heart to God!" he gnashed, then charged.

Kai did not hesitate, and rushed into his charge, with Fenris right behind him. Dodging lashing tentacles, they attacked, while I notched three arrows and shot them. All three were lashed out of the air by a single tentacle, I could see that this would be a difficult battle. I began to search my memory, trying to find something that would be helpful from my training. As Mandra cast a Cure on Fenris, I caught a memory of my mother's instructions on bows. I lifted an arrow from my quiver, playing her words over in my head.

"_Often times, in dire need, you will find the need for greater power," she said, as she notched an arrow to the bow, "You will need your weapon to give you its all, to hand its very power to you. But ironically it works the other way around. You must focus on your weapon, and give yourself to it. Let the weapon guide you so that no longer do you use it, but it will use you. It will unleash your true strength according to its own nature," She raised the arrow, aimed for the target, hesitated then released. The arrow blazed with blue light and she gasped as it flew forwards, struck the target, and blew straight through._

I notched my arrow to the bow and took aim. Rather than concentrate, I let go, released my conscious want to control and felt only the arrow and bow in my grip. As I pulled back the string, I suddenly focused, though it was not through my eyes, it was through my arrow. My… other vision locked onto the demon's body, I pulled my string taut…. and let fly. The arrow blazed blue and sang through the rain. The tentacles that lashed it were torn through and the arrow found its mark in the demon's chest. It roared in pain as smoking holes were left in its tentacles as well as the discomfort from the arrow buried deep in its chest.

"Get him!" Fenris roared a she grappled with several tentacles.

My arrow had served as a distraction, and Kai rushed in to attack the beast directly. I drew another arrow to the bow and waited for my brother to get out of the way. The rain was coming down harder, blurring all vision. I could barely see Kai slashing, though I could catch spurts of red as his blade drew blood.

"Look out!" Mandra's terrified shriek rang through the storm.

I looked at her, and then off the port bow where she was looking. A fifty foot wall of water towered over the ship, but unlike the other waves, this one wasn't breaking. Lighting flashed, and we were shadowed by the plume as it came crashing down. Fenris flung himself against the mast as Kai desperately grabbed for the rigging. I had just enough time to grab a loose coil of rope, wrap it several times around my arm and hold on, when the water hit us. I took a deep breath and was suddenly wrenched from the deck and flung upwards as the torrent of water carried me. The rope snapped taut and I held on for dear life. The moments seemed like an eternity and for a terrible second I fear the entire ship would be sunk. And then there was air. I fell back to the deck, coughing and spitting briny sea water, searching for my comrades. Mandra had nearly been flung from the ship and had only be saved because her foot had caught in the riggings. Fenris pulled his claws out of the mast as Kai climbed down to the deck. We looked around, the demon was no where to be seen.

"Where…" Fenris began.

"Eek!" Kita screamed, jumped off his shoulders and tackled Kai backwards. A fraction of a second later the demon fell from the yard arm and crashed to the deck, it's spiny tentacles thunking into the wood.

"This needs to end!" Fenris roared, "Cover me!"

"I got you!" I ran backwards, releasing arrow after arrow.

The beast's tentacles were still stick in the wood giving me a clear shot at the head. When it finally freed itself it rushed after me. I stopped firing and ran, as Fenris swept in from the side. A tentacle snaked out and caught my foot. I yelped as I was lifted over the demons head, and slammed into the ground on the other side. The demon went to sling me again, when a singing blade slashed its tentacle in half. All the air had been knocked from my lungs, so I could not even cry out in pain as the severed end of the tentacle bore its spines into my leg. Mandra was next to me in a moment, wresting the spines from my leg as she placed a hand on my chest.

"Cure Well," she whispered and the pain left my body.

I took a deep breath and sat up, Kai and Fenris were keeping the thing occupied. Rather than attack it directly, they had formed a new plan, rid the creature of its tentacles. Blood spurted through the rain, and the demon roared in pain as again and again it's appendages were severed by the sharp swords. Kai hacked through the last one as the demon stumbled backwards.

"Our God will still be strong, we will feed him the souls of all on this ship," he raised his head and gave a sharp whistle, "Slay the passengers!" Kai was on him in a moment, thrusting his blade through the demons neck and giving it a sharp twist. The demon stumbled backwards, oozing blood everywhere and gurgling as if it was still trying to speak. Finally it toppled backwards, and yet managed to speak one last taunt.

"You have slain me…grrk," he gurgled, "But you cannot stop the might of God!" and so he died, blood frothing through his mouth to run in the rain across the deck. Kai stepped back and wiped demon blood from his face.

"We have to save the passengers," he said, "Get below, quick!"

"Kai! We're going to crash!" Mandra's voice rang out from the stern.

Fenris was wasting no time and he and Kita dropped below through the first available hatch. I leaned off the starboard bow and gasped. Before us great spires of rock loomed dark out of the raging waters. Jagged and sharp, if the ship hit even one of them we would all sink to the bottom. Kai wheeled, grabbed Mandra's arm and ran back across the deck.

"Seiya, help Fenris!" he cried, then pointed to the helm, "Mandra steer us hard to starboard!"

"What about you?" I screamed as I pulled open the hatch.

"We've got to furl the sails or this wind will drag us right into those rocks no matter how we steer," he yelled back as he jumped and started climbing the riggings, "Seiya go save them!"

Without further hesitation I dropped and landed on the deck below in a crouch. Notching an arrow and jogged down the hallway. As I turned a corner, I ran smack into a demon sailor, and the five behind him tumbled to the floor. I stood up first, just as the demon furthest from me stood as well. A twang of my bow string released the arrow into his head. As the demon nearest me moved to attack, I cracked him over the head with my bow, and crushed his throat with a hard stomp to his neck. Drawing my dagger I caught the fist of the second demon, stabbed him in the chest and twisted the blade into his heart. Back flipping away, I ran down the hall as the other three gave chase. The hall ahead made a sharp ninety degree turn, leaving a flat wall straight in front of me. I jump, planted both feet on the wall and sprang backwards, tackling the foremost demon. We tumbled head over heels past the other two and I ended up on top. Drawing and arrow I plunged it through his neck and rolled over as one of his comrades attempted to crush me with its tail. I spun to my feet and dealt the demon a hard roundhouse, slamming his head into the wall. He stumbled dazed, and as the other lunged I drew three throwing blades and flung them. They thunked into his head, making a perfect ridge from his forehead to his nose. He crashed to the ground as I drew an arrow, notched it to the bow and finished the final demon with a bolt to the heart. Retrieving my arrows I rushed to the nearest cabin, where refugees were huddling in fear of the storm overhead.

"Everyone on deck!" I shouted. They simply stared at me for a moment, "All passengers to the life boats, we're about to crash, everyone on deck!"

That got them moving. Grabbing what few belongings the still had, the men and women gathered their children and rushed down the hall. In the opposite direction I could hear the sounds of combat. After the cabin had been emptied I ran down the hall, following the ring of blades. I turned the corner to find Fenris withdrawing his katana from a demon's chest. The dog man looked up at me and frowned.

"I think that's all the passengers," he said.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"I haven't seen anymore, now to go free those slaves," he said. I flushed, having completely forgotten the slaves. Then I had an idea.

"Wait a minute…" I said, "Fenris, go down there, we'll contact you via the metal tube thingy."

I ran back up the stairs and burst through the hatch into the pouring rain. The refugees huddled near the main mast, shivering in the rain. I ran up to the helm and looked upwards, to find that Kai was lashing down the last sail. Mandra was struggling with the helm, and was putting up a valiant effort, but the rudder in the water was simply to strong for her. She had, however, succeeded in pulling us off our collision course with the rocks, unfortunately our current course set us to pass straight through them. I looked up, Kai was standing on the end of a yard arm, holding onto a rope and peering out to sea. Then he swung down, and scrambled down the riggings. He approached the helm, wiping rain water from his eyes.

"Is that everyone?" he yelled.

"Except the slaves," I replied, "Fenris is down there now. We're going to free them, but we need them first."

"What for?" he asked.

"We'll never turn away from these rocks," I said, "The wind is too strong. But with the help of the oars we can maneuver through them."

"Are you insane?" he shrieked, "One mistake and we're all dead!"

"Then we can't make any mistakes," Mandra said pulling her drenched hair out of her face, "We haven't any other choice."

"Alright," Kai sighed, "Help Mandra with the helm, I'll go down and…"

"Use the tube," I said.

"The tube?"

"The tube," I pointed to a large cone that attached to a metal tube that sunk into wood and blow the deck. He caught my idea and moved to the contraption. Placing his lips to the end he called into it.

"Fenris you down there?" he put his ear to the tube, and we heard faintly.

"Ready and waiting Kai," he said.

"Are those people unchained," Kai asked.

"Yes, and the women from below are on their way up to the deck as we speak," Fenris' reply came.

"Alright, we're going to row our way out of this," he said, "I spotted a port not to far off, we just have to get through these rocks, you ready?"

"Give us orders," Fenris replied. The rocks loomed close.

"Here we go," I said under my breath. Mandra was holding one side of the helm while I grasped the other. There was no turning back now. The first rock passed us harmlessly by, casting its terrible shadow over us as lighting thrashed overhead.

"Hard to port!" I cried as another spire loomed far too close. We turned fast and hard as Kai relayed the orders. For a moment I feared that we would not turn enough, and then the oars gave us the extra push. The ship rocked to it's port side as he narrowly missed the jagged stone. Another pillar of rock, and then another, in a way our attempt was exhilarating, and terrifying at the same time. I could hardly believe it was working.

"Rack oars!" Kai yelled into the cone. Before us two pillars stood directly next to each other. They would give us little enough room to pass between them, and the oars would surely be shorn off if they were not pulled in quickly. We held the helm steady as he moved towards the narrow passage, far to fast for my comfort. There was a light scraping as the stone gouged the wood, but we shot through.

"Oh no…" I whispered. Directly in front of us, too close to evade stood another pillar, this one much wider than the others.

"Hard starboard, hard starboard!!!" Kai cried to Fenris and us. Mandra spun the wheel hard and I pulled as fast as I could. The ship leaned to the right at so great an angle I feared we would capsize.

"Almost, almost…" I grunted as the rudder reached its maximum turn and we held it hard. We could see the sea beyond, we were almost free…. When with a terrible jolt we felt the bite of stone into our keel. The wind and waves were still pushing us, but we were slowing to a halt.

"Hold on!" Fenris' voice rang out of the tube. I peered towards the port bow. From my vantage point I could barely see, but I caught a glimpse of an oar scraping on the rock. They were trying to push us.

"Unfurl the sails!" Kai cried. For the first time, a few of the towns people made themselves useful, climbing up the ropes and working at the knots that had tied down the large sails.

We could hear the scraping of the oars, and then a cry from below as we heard the snap of wood. Above the sails belled out, catching wind. I could hear the yells of the men as they attempted to tie down the ends of the sails to the arms.

"We're taking on water," Fenris roared.

"Get up here, we'll have to abandon the…" Kai cried.

"No! We'll get out…. Now!" Fenris' voice held strain, and I could imagine the dog man struggling against an oar. More snapping wood, the oars were breaking. We held to the helm, lighting flashed over head… and suddenly we were free. We splashed into the water, and behind us a great wave caught our keel and pushed us forwards. The wind and waves thrust us out and away from the rocks, into open waters. A cry of triumph echoed from below, and the refugees on deck joined with hoots of their own. I released the wheel and sat back, exhausted. Kai cried out in exaltation, Fenris howled from below decks and Mandra hugged Kai in excitement. I smiled and laughed looking forwards, and I paled. Something white was coming up fast, far too fast.

"Land!" I cried.

"Yeah it…" Kai said, still not comprehending.

"No! Land!" I shrieked. The water gave way to white sand, and then we hit. The entire ship shuddered and as we were thrown forwards. I tumbled head over heels, sailed for a moment and then struck something, hard. Weakly I attempted to push myself up… and collapsed, as the falling rain beat me into unconsciousness.


End file.
